Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
by shadowmarksman
Summary: Continues from my story SC: Doubleagent. When a group of military reporters are known to have retreived classified information on a substance worked on by the Chinese Government, Sam Fisher must retreive that information at all costs. Obeying orders or no
1. Prologue

Prologue

Minutes tick past; I take each minute as it comes. Each minute leads to a decision, a decision that only I can make. Each decision leads to a critical moment in my life, and the life of others. My life revolves around one thing, my job. Fear is my worst enemy, but my ally. Every time I take that step, that leap, fear overcomes me. But it keeps me sane, it helps me take that leap and make those decisions, take each minute as it comes.

'Loved ones come and loved ones go...'

I sometimes take one step to far and miss out on the more important things. Things that I can never forget; my most precious possession got taken away from me, the very thing I promised I would not lose.

'May Sarah Fisher…'

The possession I could not comprehend lost. I sometimes wish I could take back those steps in the compound, fix the mistakes I made, and take back what was mine. After her death I took wrong steps… steps that felt right.

'…rest in peace.' He finished his words and closed his book. I looked down at the coffin that lay there in the ground, covered in roses of all sorts and the brass plate which read 'Sarah Fisher.' Hands of all came upon me, one of which was Lambert's. "Let's get you home…"

I shook my head and walked away. "Sam, where are you going?"

"You've won your battle, now let me finish mine."

Satisfaction doesn't always come easy; to get it you sometimes have to bend the rules.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Pointe Noire,

Republic of Congo,

Africa,

23:00 hours, 17th July 2008

**SWEAT** rolled down my face due to the hot, dense air that suffocated the night jungle; the light of the moon glistened through the clouds and tall jungle tree tops, providing a minor yet eerie source of light. Night insects and mosquitoes unbearably tortured my face leaving me seconds away from insanity. I stood there stiff as the bark of the tree scratched up against my neck, I glanced my sight left to the company of an African soldier enduring the same torture yet about to butcher anything that moved. He held his AK-47 firmly to his shoulder scanning the shadowy thick dense bushes that lay ahead. Any movement on my part would shift the ground scrub alerting the guard of my presence.

Three hundred yards north was a camp crawling with heavily armed senseless soldiers, alerting them would not prove the best position for me either.

He stood less than two meters away; it was quiet and dark so his awareness would be high. I slowly reached for my pistol, pulling it from the holster centimeter by centimeter; once the suppresser was freed I slowly raised my arm inch by inch until it reached his head. I took a breath and was about to tighten my grip on the trigger when distant bushes moved and mumbled voices grew louder from the direction of the camp; the soldier looked back in thought that he should probably return.

I held my aim stiff as I shifted my sight to the previous hostile that got in my way, he lay there limp concealed in bushes directly in front of the soldier; the shadows grew nearer and the voices became clearer. I held my breath in hope he would walk back and continue on with his patrol; _turn back buddy _I thought; instead, he walked forward bumping into the leg of my last client. It took him a moment to figure out what it was; I breathed in as he turned and took a deep breath for his alert; I jumped forward startling him but not giving him enough time to respond; I slammed my hand across his mouth cutting his breath short, pushing the silencer firm against the side of his head. I pulled him back behind the opposite side of the tree to the patrol; he breathed heavily into my hand as his eyes were tightly shut. His dark bald head dripped and stanched of sweat.

The patrol grew nearer, cutting the scrub away with their machetes. There were three men; one leading the way waving the machete around furiously, another keeping watch holding his 1911 Colt.45 automatic firm to his hip, and the third soldier keeping the party alive waving his hands around in gestures though know one seemed to be listening.

They stopped about five meters away from the tree, discussing where they would continue on. A soldier mumbled and pointed in a direction though I couldn't understand, I peaked around the tree still grasping the soldier tightly; a guard pulled off his sweaty blue singlet and rapped it around a small snapped off branch; he snatched a canister off another guard causing slight annoyance and confusion and poured the contents onto the singlet _most likely a flammable solvent_ and pulled out a lighter. The branch breathed to light with a swift _whoosh_! Causing the jungle around to slightly glow orange, the shadows shifted swaying left and right from the steps the guard took; they continued on their patrol slicing through the thick scrub with their machetes.

The tension lightened as I let out a deep sigh; I wiped my face dry on my shoulder and took a deep breath. His grip on my wrist tightened as he tried to free his mouth, I lent forward and whispered into his ear "Now I'm going to release my grip on your mouth and you'd better keep it shut, one word and it might be your last. One nod is all I need." His breathing hesitated before he gave a slight nod. I slowly released my grip from his mouth expecting him to yell out; he didn't, instead he let out a deep sigh.

"Good, now what do you know about the crash?" I said scanning my eyes through the jungle.

"Crash, I… I… don't know what you're talking about…" he said nervously.

"Don't play stupid, I got a gun to your temple."

"Oh! The crash…" he said as I rolled my eyes to the back of my head.

"You catch on pretty quick; where'd it come down?"

"About, one mile east of here…" I shifted my head to the side and contacted the HQ "Grim, you get that?"

"_Yeah, our satellite heat signatures have tracked the wreckage, sounds about right."_

"Thanks." I focused my attention back on the soldier "Well done; now… what can you tell me about the crew aboard that helicopter?"

"I don't know, all we got told was that some of the crew went missing and that it was vital that we find them; I swear that's all I know."

"Thanks." I reached down and holstered my pistol then pulled out a dart from the holster, I pulled my arm back and slammed my fist hard against his head; he went limp in my arms before I laid him against the tree. I stabbed him in the neck with the dart which would keep him out cold for several hours.

I stood up and brought my OPSAT (operation satellite uplink) to my face; then inserted the coordinates and scanned east toward the crash site; the wreckage appeared as a flashing green blimp on the LCD graph display, in the bottom right hand corner of the display, the distance, altitude and radio interference was shown at my current position and that of which I am heading.

"Grim, they're on the run, how do I know where to find them?"

"_We're working on it; hopefully they will switch their distress signals on, otherwise we're searching for them through satellite; which will take some time, the forest it crawling with thermal signatures, it's difficult to predict which ones are theirs."_

"They can't have gotten far; can't you search a certain radius around the crash site?"

"_Never thought of that… I'm on it." _I walked forward and chucked the guard's AK-47 into the bushes; the trident goggles slid down over my eyes giving me a heads up display just like that of a modern fighter jet, it provides me with few of the same functions as the OPSAT, only that of altitude and distance to my objective and a small GPS in the bottom of the screen.

I switched the mode to Infra-red which provides me with a thermal reading of my surroundings; the cooler the color, the cooler the object, for instance blue; whilst the hotter the color, the hotter the object, red, and so on.

The forest glowed pink before fading down to a dark blue, the guard from before glowed red and yellow and the soldier in the bushes was a mere shadow to the background.

I cleared my surroundings before I started on.

I started jogging east hurdling logs and pushing through scrub, I wiped my face free from webs and dislodged leaves from my goggles. Wild night life shadowed across the tree tops, the moon shown in reflecting the sweat off my face and the dew off the jungle leaves.

I stopped by a stream and bobbed down to wash my face in the ice cold water.

I took a drink from my water canister emptying it dry, I filled it up once more and inserted a cleansing tablet to wash out any bacteria or germs that can cause serious or fatal symptoms.

The distance left was reduced to that of a quarter mile; I radioed in hoping for conformation of their whereabouts "Well, Jennifer?"

"_Well, I guess it's better then nothing; the forest is hot, but we think we've tracked them down, the only problem is they keep moving and the thermal readings cut out, they need to be immobile to be tracked."_

"Where was their last sighting?"

"_Not that far from your position, that's all I can give you…" _I squeezed the bridge of my nose and sighed.

"Playing hard to catch, I hate that game."

"_You know if you…" _A twig snapped from behind some bushes, I snapped my head up straight and un-holstered my pistol without giving myself enough time to blink;I cut Grim short giving my sub-dermal two taps for radio silence.

The sub-dermal is my communication ear piece implanted just under the skin behind my right ear. To receive communications the signal sent to my sub-dermal vibrates the sensors deep within my ear which will then be sent to my brain for translation; then for speaking I have to wear a self-adhesive patch located just above the Adam's apple, to speak I have to let out soft vibrations quieter then that of a whisper, a lot of my time training was spent perfecting my speech, and getting it to the right level of tone, it was like learning the alphabet once more. So, the vibrations get sent back to HQ where they're translated with a digital seismograph like reader, which is then digitally enhanced and spoken through their systems a split second after I've spoken; which in conclusion means practically silent communication. Though if the situation does not involve complete silence I can just talk as normal.

I stood up still aiming my pistol directly on the bushes; it was silent apart from the flow of water gurgling down the stream. I slowly reached up and switched to IR, the bushed glowed red and yellow and what appeared to be an extended arm holding a pistol, I stood in silence waiting on what would happen next. Thankfully it was in my favor, a bird fluttered off causing ruckus in a near by bush, the figure shifted, as did I; I sprinted quietly to the nearest tree and slid around it. In view the figure gained fear; he peered through the bushes looking up and down the stream. I raised my pistol and aimed it directly as his head and reached up and switched off IR. My vision was dark before it slowly focused on his uniform, on his shoulder was a badge reading 'U.S Air Force', I sighed in relief but kept my 5-7 pistol raised to his head; it provides me with a twenty bullet magazine and clip of non-lethal tranquilizer darts, it has a modular under barrel which also provides me with a laser sight and a camera jamming device, which cuts off all telemetry from that camera for a short period of time, causing what seems to be a mere malfunction.

I took a breath before I walked up swiftly sliding the pistol out of his hands with ease "Hold it…" he fumbled to his butt in surprise sliding until he came flat to a tree. "Stand down soldier…" I said as his eyes opened wide. "You're American!"

"Yeah, why not…Who are you?" I said reaching down before pulling him to his feet.

"I'm Lieutenant Dikes; I was in the Blackhawk when it came down."

"I'm glad to see you."

"Glad to see me? I'm glad to see you!"

"Well you made my job a whole lot easier, but what if I wasn't American?"

"I… I… I'm sorry it's just been a while that I've met anyone that doesn't want to kill me out here."

"Who says I don't want to kill you?"

"What?" He stuttered.

"Never mind, are you the only survivor?" I asked.

"No…"

"How many were aboard?"

"Nine, I think, yeah nine!."

"Where are the others?" I asked in a hurry.

"That way…" he said as he pointed east "Only six of them though… three reporters and three crewmen, one badly injured."

"Where are the other two?" I said crossing my arms.

"Not sure, there was so much smoke and our position was getting closed in on… I'm sorry I'm new to this, first time in this situation." I nodded my head.

"Its ok soldier, it's natural to be afraid. No ones doubting you. What were you doing out here?" I said as I arched my head back.

"Our long range communications were destroyed in the crash, this is all we had…" he said as he extended out his arm handing me a short range radio used mostly in the seventies and eighties; it consisted of a large extendable antenna and was covered in knobs used for adjusting radio frequencies.

"We needed to send a signal; every body was giving up hope of a rescue, so I decided to go."

"Nice move." I gave a chuckle to myself and let out a sigh "Boy, these look familiar… how far did you expect to reach?"

"I don't know sir, it was more of a comfort to the others, to make sure they stay in this, I didn't want to give up, not this early." I handed the radio back before pulling out of my pocket a smaller communications device which had a tracking device imbedded in it "Take this…" I handed him the device "Head back to the shore and switch it on, wait there and don't move, a helicopter will be on location soon." I brought my hand to his shoulder and looked him deep in the eyes; he appeared in his mid-twenties, I forgot how young they took them these days, especially for a Blackhawk Recon mission.

I patted him once before I spoke up "I'll make sure you get a medal for this son, keep out of sight."

"Thank you sir." My hand slid down brushing ash off his charcoaled uniform. He started jogging before I spoke up "Hey Dikes… What's your first name?"

"Mitchell, sir." I gave him a nod bringing a smile to his face before he continued on in direction of the coast, I looked back and sighed before I gave a slight grin _can't believe he snuck up on me like that… _I thought in disbelief.

________________________________________________________________________

Smoke covered the night sky where the moon was a mere faded shadow; I could see the glow over the trees from the wreckage of the Blackhawk and the slight cracks of light shimmering through the forest. I slowly approached a small clearing of the jungle, where centered in the middle was the remains of a stone hut, scorches and damage from bullets covered the walls, one wall remained upright and in one piece whilst the other walls were reduced to half all with a significant loss of stone bricks. The hut had been overrun with bushes and vines, the long grass made it difficult the see in, though it was possible.

I approached the out rim of the clearing staying out of sight within the bushes; I switched to night vision, the display in my goggles went fuzzy before it changed to a tinge of grey and green, my surroundings were significantly changed, from the darkness of night to the almost brightness of day.

I peered in looking for movement; at first there was none, then a small figure which looked like that of a foot, slid into sight just next to the entrance.

I started circling around the clearing which was about 50x50 in perimeter, staying out of sight and watching for movement; I was to the right of the clearing when inside I saw a figure lying up against the wall, his leg was straightened and wrapped in a bandage. I scanned the rest of the hut, to my right was what appeared to be a lookout soldier, I switched to IR and confirmed my theory; a yellow glow was what the two men appeared as. I circled around trying to find the last four, I also memorized the huts interior for cover, blind spots and defense positions. I wondered why the patrols did not check here; _maybe they have but didn't check well enough, or they know their there but a waiting for them to make the first moved, _I shivered and snapped my sight behind me scanning the forest with IR, it was clear, but the though of a bullet or machete to the back scarred me.

Continuous gun shots echoed in the distance, the soldiers straightened and looked around in curiosity, I hoped those shot weren't at Lieutenant Mitchell, I grew to like him.

I finished the cycle of the clearing but only spotted that of the two soldiers; then just as I was about to move on, to my right a flash appeared, then another, then once more. _A signal I thought,_ then one flash came from the hut. The bushes rattled then a figure scurried out of the bushes, almost stumbling; he carried with him what appeared to be a wounded man lugged over his shoulders. He ran into the hut gently placing the soldier by the wall; he leaned over him keeping pressure on his wound I presumed was from the previous gunshots.

A glance of light approached the boarder, I stood up and sprinted close enough for me to receive an IR reading into the jungle; I stopped by a log and zoomed in on the light with my trident goggles, then switched to IR; A large patrol was moving quickly on the clearing, the barking of dogs grew loud.

I knew I had to act quick, other wise the butchering of good men will take place, including that of civilians.

I bolted to the clearing edge where the patrol would exit; they were fifty to sixty meters away and closing quickly. The leaders had with them dogs, they scurried through the grass with there noses to the ground. I reached to my chest pocket and pulled out a motion-sensitive wall mine.

The 'widow maker' wall mine is the NSA' latest gadget; specifically a preferred last resort for "stealth" operatives, the 'widow maker' emits a high explosive in a fatal radius of five meters by five meters. Its specialty is its design for the user to choose lethal or non-lethal, for the former it sends a blast wave filled with piercing projectiles and a lethal blow; the latter sends a powerful shockwave of energy causing a strong concussion to its subjects, though may be lethal. Its other specialty is the designers made it just for Third-Echelon operatives, they installed a dampener and who knows what to reduce the sound significantly by up to five times that of normal.

I pulled out the mine and placed it low on the tree, I set it to lethal and five second set time. I bolted back to my previous position, on thought of my options. The allied soldiers in the hut had no idea of the patrols presence, I decided to warn them. I stood up and swiftly bolted across the clearing then came to a small wall flicking my legs over and landing in a crouch; I quickly moved to a wall and stuck to it firm then swung my body around the corner.

I walked a few meters past the soldier with the wounded leg to the Major treating the un-uniformed man's wound and picked up the MP5 lying on the ground beside him. "Here you'll need this!" I said quickly, knowing it won't be long before the walls start to shatter. He jumped for his gun but noticed I had it, the sergeant that was on lookout jumped up in surprise holding the gun at my head. The private with the wounded leg became conscious and got nervous.

"I'm American, there's no time to explain!"

The sergeant walked forward "Drop the gun!"

"We are in danger if we stay here, we've got to move!" the sergeant shook nervously and cocked the gun. "You've got to trust me, I was sent here to rescue you… any second now a patrol is going to open fire, we are sitting ducks out here!" I yelled. They looked each other in the eyes trying to make a decision. "Now!" I yelled furiously. It was too late to warn them, the first load of bullets were fired, the walls shattered into thousands of pieces. The clearing edge lit up twinkling from the barrage of fire; I dived into the sergeant forcing him to the ground out of the line of fire, I looked back and chucked the MP5 into the hands of the Major, he pulled back the cog and let out a short burst of bullets into the tree line.

The shells covered the ground as each shot was fired, the sound was deafening. I pulled out my pistol and rapidly crawled to the private with the wounded leg; I helped him up and gave him my pistol then told him to keep down low and move out of here. Dirt flew around me as the bullets imbedded in the ground. The Major kept down fire with the MP5, though the air was too dangerous, so he let out a full burst of blind fire over his head. I crawled back to the sergeant with the pistol and told him to take the wounded man out of the firing zone and wait for further instruction. He jumped up and ran to the reporter lifting him onto his shoulder. "We'll give you covering fire!" I yelled.

A fireball went up and the tree came down in splinters, chunks of wood landed in the hut, showering us with dirt; cries came from the tree line as the mine went off. I pulled out my SC-20 assault rifle; it fires standard NATO 5.56x45 mm rounds, it is equipped with a modular under barrel attachment giving me a wide variety of options along with a flash suppressor/silencer giving me lethal yet stealthy options, the pistol is also equipped with a silencer.

I pulled back the hammer and swung myself on top of the stone wall, I aimed the sights into the bushes holding the cross-hairs centered on the twinkle of gun fire. I squeezed the trigger, the rifle coughed in my arms as the twinkle stopped. I changed target and repeated the process, the rifle bucked in my arm and the shell hit the ground. The fire became too strong and constant, precise shots took too long, I brought myself up again and switched the setting to rapid fire then held the trigger down doing a quick swift horizontal swing through the tree line. The recoil pushed me back; I stabled myself and finished the clip. I placed my rifle on the ground and pulled out a grenade; the pin slipped out easily before I chucked it over my shoulder into tree line. The ground thundered as the tree line shuddered in flames, dirt puffed up covering the surroundings once more.

I reloaded the SC-20 and signaled the soldier to run to safety, but I wasn't done yet; I was about to move forward before quick light prodding drew near; a Doberman scaled the wall and ran right at me, I jumped to my knees and pulled out the knife sheathed horizontally on the lower part of my back; it jumped forward in a pounce, though it caused no threat, I gripped its head and slammed it into the wall, it let out a light whine and laid there limp. The fire lightened as voices yelled out followed by thuds from their footsteps; I reached in and pulled out another widow maker and placed it on the wall beside me. In a low crouch I got up carrying the rifle in my left hand and stopped by a pillar pulling another grenade from my belt. The pin was unsheathed with a slight clash of metal; I lent out around the pillar and inserted a smoke grenade into the under barrel of my SC-20 then changed the degree of my aim just above where I wanted it to land. I pulled the secondary trigger on the under barrel; a deep clunk came from the barrel coughing the smoke just where I wanted it, landing it just by the clearing. The ground shuddered again as the night sky was lit by the fireball caused by the grenade; I waited counting on ten seconds after a small flash appeared then the hissing from the smoke grenade became clear. I stood up and bolted across the clearing, slight specks of gun fire appeared through the smoke and the occasional high pitched whistle of death past in front and behind me; I lowered my self before entering the jungle, then a thunderous explosion lit the hut bright, cries grew loud as the stone wall was obliterated sending dangerous shrapnel about. The smoked cleared before figures appeared running the clearing down, I had to give the U.S soldiers time to get away. I pulled the SC-20 to my shoulder and sprinted through the forest; I stopped and raised the gun homing in on the enemy soldiers. A slight cough sounded as the rifle jolted in my shoulder, the soldier shuddered back off his feet slamming to the ground. I changed my aim and then stumbled another soldier. The leader stopped by the wall and waved his hands ordering his men to halt. The gunfire ceased sending an echo of shots through the jungle; it all became quiet except for the nightlife and the slight crackle of fire by the hut. I shifted around the skirt of the clearing coming in line with him; he changed his clip and peered over the wall keeping his eyes focused down the barrel.

The patrol leader straightened his arm out pointing to one of the four soldiers that lay in the jungle; the IR reading showed a soldier jump up and run over to the leader stopping in a slide. They discussed their options quietly scanning the rest of the hut; the leader looked back to the bushes and gave two firm points before waving his hand franticly signaling a flank around the left and right of the hut.

I inserted a single LTL (Less than lethal) sticky shocker switching the power to low. Two soldiers headed in my direction with there heads low; I drew the rifle to my shoulder keeping the cross hairs centered on the soldier furthest away and switched to single shot. His head snapped back as he toppled forward onto his stomach, the soldier in front stopped and hesitated as he turned back and looked in shock. I stood up sprinting forward avoiding sticks and logs as I went. I brought the rifle in line with him and pulled the trigger as I went, it got him in the upper center of the back jolting him forward landing near the other soldier in a whine as he exhaled his air. I stopped by a tree and looked toward the leader, he had moved forward a few more meters into the hut; I zoomed the sights in on the soldier flanking from the right, he was running, with the crosshairs half a centimeter in front of his head, I tapped the trigger slightly as the SC-20 coughed once more in my shoulder. He snapped sideways rolling from his speed. The leader looked curiously in fear knowing he'd lost contact; I needed to get in quickly before he called for reinforcements. Jumping up I ran forward directly to the back of the hut where they started out, and bolted across the clearing avoiding the bodies from the fight stopping just by the wall a few meters directly behind the leader; not giving a second delay, I fired the sticky shocker into his neck. The captain stiffened spreading out straight dropping his KRT-99 assault rifle to the ground. I slipped the SC-20 onto the holster on my back before kicking his gun to the side; the sticky shocker would leave him thirty seconds to about a minute out cold; leaving me enough time to bind his arms and legs. His arms and legs twitched to the slight effects of the electrical current.

Dazed, he became conscious as he squinted his eyes in wonder, I helped him along slapping him across the face. His eyes widened in fear and he took a deep breath, I covered his mouth with my hand and kinked my head "You know that wouldn't be the best career move; so unless you wish to join the rest of your men, I'd keep it shut." The sweat rolled down my nose ending its path in his lap "Are you going to be quiet or do I have to introduce my knife? Nod if you are going to cooperate, for your well being I suggest you do." His appearance was Asian and his uniform backed it up, _Chinese._ He nodded once "Good. See? We get along fine… now what was so important on that footage that your country went a great length to get it?" I slowly lowered my hand from his mouth allowing him to answer

"You can get stuffed…" I placed my hand over his mouth again and pulled out my knife hovering it just in front of his eyes the moon reflected off it as he when tense.

"You're in need of a shave," I said as I slowly ran the blade down his cheek, I then held it firm to his neck before I spoke up "Don't make me… now, what's on that footage?" I removed my hand

"Ok… but when I tell you this I'm not lying. It's big, and is very important, the government has been working on some type of weapon enhancer, and we were ordered to retrieve it and bring it back home."

"Have you retrieved it?"

"Not yet, but won't be much longer." I took a breath and tapped my sub-dermal "Grim, Brunton, you guys get that?" James Patrick Brunton is my weapons coordinator and my long time friend. He was born in 1996 Chicago, Illinois though he has never been in the field, it always feels like his there for me. He provides me with my load out for each mission, which is none the less perfect. He stands at 5'7" and spends most of his time working on new gadgets for the field. As for Jennifer, born in 1974 Boston, Massachusetts, she found her work at the National Intelligence Agency when she was hired as a civilian computer and signal intelligence technician, proving field operatives, but mostly myself with technology and communications support. She'll hack anything worth hacking, from Korean embassy archives to the Presidents personal laptop computer, depending on the situation of course. If she's not busy furiously typing in keys she'll be making some comment on my age, or both.

The signal hissed in my ear _"Ah… yeah, but I'm not sure what to say." _Grimsdottir said.

"Grim?"

My boss, Lambert, interrupted _"Well if this is true, they've done very well in keeping it quiet; there hasn't even been the slightest bit of intelligence revealed." _

"Must be pretty important for this amount of secrecy,"

"_Well, yeah… all the more reasons that we need that tape Sam."_

"I'll get it."

I live alone in farm house forty minutes North of Charles Town, Virginia. If I'm not in the field, or doing anything else that involves work, that's where I spend most of my time; I find it… 'My sane time', I spend weeks renovating the place when I get the chance, I do it on my own and enjoy every bit of it. When not keeping to the shadows or preventing a war, I basically become a handy man around the house.

My name is Samuel Fisher, I'm 5'10" and have short black hair, and was born in Orlando Florida 1966; I got to my position when I was recognized in an early special Ops team when I took part in many raids; since than my rank has been rising.

I'm an operative in Third Echelon, the latest in the NSA' operation; I use the latest espionage techniques and gadgets to infiltrate sensitive locations to retrieve information and execute operations the U.S government cannot acknowledge.

I've been the front lines of espionage through several key decades of history, providing a major role to some outcomes. Not only have I survived but I've excelled in my work through hard work, curiosity and brutal honesty; I have little time for polite niceties and even less for lies. My personality is quiet and instinctive, I'm also known for my wicked and slightly dark sense of humor which I think keeps me alive.

I looked back to the captain and sheathed my knife "What else do you know?"

"I told you too much already, get stuffed…" I squinted and pulled out a tracking device switching it on and sliding it into his pocket.

"Thanks for your time." I slammed my fist into his forehead sending him limp as I laid him against the wall. I switched a switch on my OPSAT changing the frequency on communications to the Osprey and tapped my sub-dermal "Bird, I got you a pick up, sending you the signal." I held a button down on the OPSAT and the screen changed rapidly in the form of radar.

"_Roger that sir, pick up in two." _The frequency changed back as Lambert radioed in _"Sam?"_

"Sorry sir just thought you'd fancy a prisoner."

"_Good thinking, now find that footage."_

"Roger."

I stood up and changed my direction to the glow of fire into the trees, and started on in a sprint.

Colonel Irving Lambert is my boss; he makes the decisions in which I comply. The Splinter Cell operation wouldn't be operating if he wasn't here; he started out young and quickly rose in rank before starting up the basis of Splinter Cell operatives. His leadership has helped America in many ways; he became the executive producer of Third Echelon providing operations out of the radar. Not only is he my boss but he's also my friend, he's been there when I needed him the most, like when my daughter Sarah was recently killed after she was caught up in a terrorist warfare attack. A moment in time I try to erase, mostly because I watched it all happen.

He helped me through the worst mission of my life… prison. One of my last missions was blending into the background of a high security prison, in order to find information on international cyber attacks created by a computer mastermind known as Jacob Peitric. He was the only person capable of stopping one of the most devastating computer viruses known to man, wiping out vital top secret files kept safe from the out side world, it even almost launched missiles into sensitive areas nearly preventing World War III, not even the NSA' or CIA' most experienced hackers were able to stop the cyber attack, including Grimsdottir. I played a major role by convincing his organization that they could trust me, I eventually found out the ways of preventing the out break, leaving the world in the top of their seats.

Six months of my life I wish to forget.

The prison made me stronger mentally, it brought me back from the dead, in a sense it was a rehabilitation centre for my life.

My sprint slowed to a jog as I approached the crash site, the crackle of fire was loud and the heat singed my face and arms dew to them not being protected by my suite. The Blackhawk was nose down into the jungle floor; debris littered the ground, in smoke. The back rudder blade still spun in two second intervals echoing a loud hum through the forest.

I peered around looking for movement; my visions were useless, due to the heat of the fire. Scanning the surroundings I found nothing, before a few meters from the wreckage the sound of clashing metal and shuffling grew loud. A lone soldier shuffled through a crate of gear that the hawk carried, he dug deep on his knees, throwing away anything of low value. I check around before I moved forward slowly in a crouch, moving my feet slowly before treading. He exclaimed and pulled out a silver Desert Eagle pistol, examining it before tucking it in to his belt. I approached him cautiously stopping just two feet away, I unsheathed my knife and slowly reached my left arm to his head; I swiftly slipped the Desert Eagle out of his trousers chucking it aside whilst grabbing him in a lock with my arm around his neck firmly pressing the knife to the centre of his back. He fell back and gripped my arm, choking through the force.

Still in a crouch I walked backwards sliding his legs over the dirt into darkness, I looked around for presence, though there was none before I whispered in his ear "You were gonna pay for that?"

"What?" he stuttered.

"You do know looting against the law?"

"I wasn't…" I pressed harder against his back cutting him short.

"Shut up, what do you know about the men aboard the helicopter? Were there any survivors?"

"Umm…"

"Four men are missing, where are they?" I said gripping his neck tighter.

"Huh, looks like you're too late… they took two of them." I breathed in closing my eyes realizing the situation.

"Where are the other two?" I said in an angry voice.

"Check the cockpit…" I looked to the wreckage. "Damn!" I mumbled to myself.

"If either one of them was killed by one of your guys I'm coming back for you! Now did your people find what they were looking for?!" I said piercing past his uniform.

"What? I don't know what…" I pushed the knife harder causing him to exclaim.

"You know precisely what I'm talking about, the footage, do they have it or not?!"

"Yes, ok! Yes!"

"Where is it now?!"

"Don't know, that took it ages ago by helicopter; they've got the hostages with them too. I told you what you wanted, now let me go!" I pulled hard on his neck, cutting his air supply off periodically knocking him unconscious in a whine. I dropped his body to the ground and stood up "Lambert!" I said in worry.

"_We've tracked the helicopter, no time to waste; your mission here is done get to extraction!"_ Lambert finished and I headed to the helicopter; I lent inside to see the co-pilot leaning up against the controls, helmet disheveled and a drop of blood from the crash on his forehead, the pulse was dead; I snapped the dog tag off his neck and shoved it in my pocket; I ran through his pockets and pulled out his wallet placing it into my chest pocket.

A cry came from out side, I stiffened and crept outside; the pilot lay there buried in wreckage, trying to free himself. He saw my shadowy figure and panicked raising his pistol; I jumped forward slipping it from his hands.

"_Now Sam, there's no time!" _I lifted the large sheet of metal from his chest revealing two gun wounds, one in his left shoulder, and another in his lower abdomen. "I'm not going to leave him here to die!" I said raising him to my shoulder.

"_You're jeopardizing the mission; this won't get you a medal!" _I stood up and ran into the jungle trying my best to smoothen his ride.

"A mans life is worth more than a medal!" the radio went silent as I trotted through the jungle. I grew closer to extraction occasionally doing an IR scan.

The hum of a helicopter hovered ahead; I exited onto the beach kicking sand from under my feet, there hovered the Osprey with Brunton standing at the door. He saw me and pulled a leaver, a stretcher descended down stopping by the ground; I ran over placing him on the stretcher shifting his legs into place. A rope flew down landing beside me; I reached for it and pulled myself up tying my legs around the rope, slipping myself up quickly. A hand reached out pulling me up onto the deck; I walked to the stretcher and lugged him to the bed. "Anna!" I yelled.

Anna is the co-pilot cross medic, she's kept me alive on many situations from bullet wounds, explosions, or even broken bones.

She ran over checking my well being "I'm fine it's him!" I yelled pointing to the pilot of the Blackhawk. The Osprey banked left than up as they took off in pursuit.

I slipped off my SC-20 and placed it on the seat, I dropped to the floor catching my breath, and I slipped of my goggles chucking them to the deck.

Brunton leaned down in worry, I signaled my being ok, and lent back closing my eyes.

I lost consciousness for a few seconds before waking up to the pat of Brunton's hand "Lamberts on screen." he said. I jumped up walking to the plasma screen in the cockpit; Lambert's face was on screen, as he looked at paper work. "Lambert?" I said leaning on Birds seat; Bird is the pilot of the Osprey, he's been here as long as I have, his real name is Frank Gordon, his serious nature is the type you need when avoiding enemy fire. He has also been along side me in the field during past conflicts, not only is he a good soldier but a good man.

"_Sam, glad you made it." _Lambert said.

"Glad we made it…" his face went quiet as he lent back.

"_How is he?"_

"He'll live, just." I said crossing my arms to my chest. There was a slight pause before he changed the subject _"No time for debrief, you're in pursuit of an '99 T-Range' helicopter, we're tracking its position, we suspect it to be heading North East towards a small Island a few hundred Miles off the south coast of China."_ The screen changed and a map zoomed in, pixels on the screen focused before a small island appeared on screen. _"That's your destination, once there your primary objectives are to retrieve that footage and attempt to rescue the hostages." _

"Sir, the Chinese have taken two American civilians hostage, I'd take that as a threat."

"_More of an act of war," _

"Tense… sir if I am able to retrieve the footage and bring the hostages back safe, then what happens? Forget this ever happened?"

"_Not sure, but once we find out what is on that footage, we should have a fair idea." _I lent against the wall and nodded _"James," _said Lambert "Sir?" he answered, _"Insertion?" _Lambert asked as Brunton typed furiously into his laptop computer.

"Working on it, I should have a strong answer once we get closer, but for now you'll be doing a drop off half a mile off the shore of the Island, I'll have more info soon." He sat down and went to work.

The pace slowed and the Osprey jerked hard, machinery moved and the pace quickened, the twin blades changed from vertical, to horizontal; placing the blades to the side of the cockpit.

The Osprey is one of the most advanced aircraft available, half helicopter, and half plane. It's got top of the line maneuverability and speed, perfect for quick insertions and getaways. 

"Lambert, what's my ROE?" or rules of engagement.

"_Non-lethal, we don't want to risk war against the Chinese government. The casualties from before were unfortunate, but we had no idea of there involvement; we're treading a thin line as it is already, no more casualties Sam!"_ the screen faded and the noise of the propellers took over.

I stepped over to Brunton and asked "What happened with the U.S soldiers?" He pushed back and spun round on his chair "The reporter didn't make," I pinched the bridge of my nose and exhaled "one of them was shot but should pull through, the major is fine but the private with the wounded leg lost a lot of blood, their working on him as we speak."

"Where are they now?"

"We dropped them off with an undercover fishing boat just near the shore. They were thankful Sam." I nodded my head.

"What about Lieutenant Dikes? How's he?"

"He's fine, rattled, but ok. He's also with the others." I stepped away and sat down on the seat, I reached for the wallet that I recovered from the pilot and opened it up. A photo of his family was attached to the front; I placed it on a shelf along with the dog tag; it read

**Sergeant Dufraine, David**

**23/4/1974**

**Topeka, Kansas**

**1****st**** division **

**U.S Air force**

I squeezed the tag in my hands then place it on the shelf.

The trip would take two or more hours to get there; I sat back down, lifted my legs to the seat and closed my eyes.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Part one

350 miles south of Hong Kong

3:25 hours 18th July 2008

**THE** Osprey' altitude lowered suddenly sending my SC-20 slamming to the floor; I sat up straight to see Brunton still starring into his laptop's screen, he sat stiff in his chair tapping the occasional key. "Enthused?" I said as picked the rifle off the deck. He jerked in the seat and looked toward me startled; a smile ran across my face as I rubbed my eyes awake.

"Good your awake, we'll be there in twenty." He got up from his chair and pulled out two clips of ammo from an ammunition box at the rear end of the Osprey, walked over and handed them to me "We're keeping with the original plan, you're doing a drop." I nodded my head and stood up.

"Extraction?"

"We've got an agent aboard a small cruiser not far from the Island, when you need to get out, there will be a dingy waiting a few hundred meters from shore, which you'll use to get to the cruiser."

"What do I do with my gear?"

"When you get to the dingy there will be a duffel bag inside, with appropriate clothes for when you board the cruiser. As for the gear… inside the dingy will be a small buoy…" I gave a grin and looked at him sarcastically "James?" he gave a chuckle and continued "…there will be a buoy, with a wire attached to it, put your gear in the duffel bag and chuck it over board. We'll have a team retrieve."

"Organized…" I stepped over to my equipment stash and pulled out another pistol slotting it into the holster; I grabbed a clip of sticky shockers and placed them in my pocket, along with a clip of four airfoil rings.

Airfoil rings are a part of my LTL gear, fired into the head with great force knocking one unconscious, though used at too closer range they can be lethal; I've seen enough people shot in the temple with the AFR that I take great caution in using them.

I unclipped the ammo from my rifle and replaced it with the new ones, placing one in my right thigh pocket. I pointed to the ammo box and placed my hand on the butt of the pistol; James walked over leaning down a grabbing a clip of ammo.

"Sam, when you get back I might have a gift to add to your collection of gadgets," he said as he chucked the ammo into my chest.

"Oh Brunton, you shouldn't have…" I said as I filed the clip to my suit.

"It's not big but I think it'll make your job easier."

"Why not give it to me now?" I asked.

"I don't have it…"

I shrugged and slipped the head balaclava over my face leaving just my eyes revealed. "Of course you don't…" I nodded my head toward him and brought my arms to the zipper for the balaclava "Do you mind?" he nodded and walked over zipped the balaclava to the suit. I snapped the cog on the SC-20 and slipped it onto my back holster. Bird yelled out from the cockpit and waved his hand "Sam, you ready?" I nodded to Brunton and zipped the top of my tactical-suit up. "Ready!" the clang of metal and machinery sounded as the rear door opened, water and wind blew in soaking the inside of the Osprey. I grabbed my goggles and slipped them onto my head, the lock clicked and a piercing hum sounded as they powered up.

"Keep in contact!" Brunton yelled as he ran back to the cockpit.

The signal light changed green as the water slowly passed by; I snapped a lever and a UPE dropped in a splash, I slipped the re-breather harness on my back and slipped the mouth piece into the balaclava and slotted it in my teeth. I ran forward and crossed my arms to my chest leaping from the deck, pin dropping to the freezing cold ocean in a splash, I rolled back and kicked to the surface, the bubbles ran past my face as I ascended. The Osprey zoomed off into the darkness as the propeller hum grew dim. I caught the lightweight UPE in my hands and tapped my sub-dermal "Lambert, I'm in the water, about to proceed." Static hissed before Lamberts voice spoke up _"Good, now, you know your objectives?"_

"Yeah, footage, hostages, keeping it clean,"

Grim joined in _"Hi Sam, just informing you that the Island doesn't have any form of alarm system, there are no cameras, sensors…"_

"Grim, I'm cold…"

"_Isn't your suit meant…?"_

"…I didn't do the trousers up tight enough and it was a bit uncomfortable when I hit the water; and I get it, no alarm systems." Grim snorted in the radio and was accompanied by Irving, _"No… but that probably means their numbers and awareness is high." _She finished the sentence in a laugh.

"Lambert you shouldn't be laughing, you know what it would be like if you were in my position."

"_But I'm not, am I?"_

"Look, I'll contact you later."

"_Ok, won't hold you up, we'll contact when you hit land."_

"Fisher out," I brought the OPSAT to my face and toggled the modes; it showed I was 1600 meters from target.

The UPE' engine hummed to life; the UPE is an underwater propulsion engine used a lot in Navy Seal operations, for infiltrating undetected through deep waters at quick speeds. The 2 foot long and 1 foot wide engine is lightweight and quiet, Third Echelon has just introduced the UPE to our options of entry, and never goes wrong.

I pointed it to the direction of the Island out in front of my head. The speed increased on my goggles tactical screen **4.5 miles…5.7…7.9…10.3 miles** eventually it reached 17.8 miles p/h; I kept my face to the sea bed as the force was strong, nearly tearing the goggles from my head.

The distance grew smaller and the bed began to rise. I switched the jet off and floated to a stop. I un-strapped the jet from my arm and let it sink to the sea bed. The goggles vision blurred as the water ran off the lenses, I switched my digital binoculars on pointing to the Island.

In the image appeared a cliff side and a small beach littered by rocks, the top of the cliff was dark and quiet, the occasional shadow moved, most likely a patrolling soldier. I switched the zoom to 8x and focused on the beach, it was clear and dark, and I marked it for my point of entry. I scanned the cliff again and saw the outline of a truck in the dark sky, I switched to IR but the distance was too far; so I then flicked off zoomed and started wading towards the shore.

Part two

3:40 hours

My feet scraped the sand on the sea bed; I fell to my stomach rubbing against the seaweed. The waves boosted me forward further onto the beach; I did an NV scan to see if it was clear. Nothing.

Rain poured down in an instant soaking the sand and the rocks, the droplets prodded my back as I laid there stiff; whilst on my stomach I crawled forward until I reached a rock sticking the SC-20 flat against it.

The beach lit up as lighting struck, followed by the deep raw of thunder, the storm clouds covered the night sky, followed by an eerie sound of the waves crashing against the rocks.

I crawled around the rock and headed towards the cliff face; I found a small space between two rocks and slipped in.

As I was removing the re-breather harness the sub-dermal buzzed in my ear, _"Well done Fisher, how are you coping so far?" _Lambert said.

"Meh… cold, stiff, nothing I can't bare." I said brushing sand from my suit.

Grim came online and started the conversation off as usual_ "Evidence of old age Sam,"_

"I'm not old! Try… mature."

"_I believe that's good enough for a nursing home."_

"Why are you even talking? When I come across a retinal scanner along the cliff I'll inform you."

A snort came over the radio_ "Can't wait…"_

"Lambert, has Brunton got anything other than me climbing the cliff face? It looks kinda slippery."

"_One second, I'll put him on for you…" _The static changed followed by the crackled voice of Brunton _"Sam, if I'm right this Island was home to a smuggling operation out of China, now from the data and history of smuggling, there's most likely small caves around the cliff they use to use to get the job done, I don't have exact locations so you're gonna have to scout around; otherwise… cliff face."_

"I'll keep an eye open,"

I pulled the mouth piece from the balaclava and placed it on the rock, my eyes caught a glimpse of what appeared to be wet footprints in the sand, I froze in silence hoping to here evidence of company, it was quiet and dark. I removed the rest of the harness and used my hands to dig a hole in sand; I put the gear in the sand and covered it back over.

The footprints led around a slight corner; I crab walked along the cliff and peeked my head around the corner, it was clear. But I noticed by the cliff was a small crevasse two feet wide, I stepped out and looked up the cliff for any company, before I walked over to the crevasse, I listened and heard the echoing of voices vibrating across the stone walls.

The goggles hummed as I switched to NV; squeezing my body into the crevasse crab walking along. The gap widened into a natural stair case of rocks leading to a small path big enough to fit through crouching; I mantled the stair case of rocks and took the path cautiously.

In a crouch I went along, the voices started up again but not as echolike. They spoke in accented in English as I stepped out into a dark cavern lit only by the glow of running water. In the centre of the cave was a deep wide crevasse with an old rickety bridge running to the other side. The soldiers stood across the other side fighting over whether the bridge is safe "It's safe, trust me."

"I don't know, it could break," he lent to the edge and then was joined by the other "It's a long way down I guess, but you're just chicken! It won't break. Chan just went across, it was fine!" he stepped back and shook his head "Well Chan is a twig, do what you want I'm not going across." He said as he walked out of sight into another cave "Fine, do what you like…" he shook off his backpack then walked to the bridge taking one step at a time. He held the rails firmly on each side, walking one plank at a time.

I dropped back down one step and peered over the ledge; he approached the end of the bridge and leaped the last few planks. "Ha! Made it!" he yelled. He walked left and looked down into the gorge. I mantled up the step and snuck up behind the soldier; he leaned out and peered over the edge. I drew my pistol and stood to his height; he held his rifle beside him with the safety on, the arm strap scraping the rocks. Raising the pistol to his head I reached forward and gripped the back of his neck firmly. He gasped in pain as his body shot up in shock. The silencer pressed against the back of his head and I whispered in his ear "Long way down isn't it…you weren't going to jump, were you?" I pressed my thumb into his neck causing him to let out a slight cry. "Ah… no!" he said softly

"Cause if you were, I'll be happy to assist," I looked at his G-32 automatic assault rifle and pushed the pistol harder. "Drop it." He stood there firmly grasping it in his hand "Now!" I jerked his head and the rifle dropped in a clang tipping forward over the ledge, it spun in the air and splashed to the stream. "Now, keep quiet or you'll join it. Where are the two hostages located?" I said. His voice hesitated before

"Try the storage rooms at the bottom of the lighthouse; I think that's where they are."

"Keep it up, where is the footage your goons recovered?" I asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"Listen, I hear that far too often, it gets kinda old. Now it seems you're desperate for your gun, most likely to shoot me… do you want it?" he shook his head in my grip and breathed aloud. "Now, try again. Make it quick I'm short on time."

"Try the communications centre, I'm not entirely sure, but that's the most guarded area. I swear that's all I know…" he finished his sentence before echoed steps approached; I squeezed his neck and stepped back against the wall into darkness. The previous guard walked out from a gap walking to the ledge "Teng, Teng?" _Teng?_ I thought. He searched around before walking to the bridge, he hesitated and started on. He took his steps carefully one step at a time; he reached half way and looked over the rails.

I changed my grip to a head lock providing me with a better position, the guard scanned and stopped his sight in our direction, he squinted his eyes and drew his pistol "Teng, is that you?" I squeezed off his air as he tensed in my arm. The soldier walked further another two planks; I brought the pistol in line with him slowly bringing my finger to the trigger _"Fisher!" _Lambert said with hesitation. "It'll be clean and quick. Its unlikely he'll be found." I slowly tightened my grip on the trigger _"You know your rules of engagement!" _he took one step more "Fatality or the mission sir!" the line went quiet providing me with the answer I needed; I was about to fire before I changed my aim on the bridge cable; the pistol bucked in my hand and the rope snapped free. The bridge leaned one side instantly throwing him off the edge, his scream echoed numerous times before his body slammed into the rocky stream below. "It'll look accidental… good enough?" I said as I brought the pistol back to the hostage. He wriggled in my grip trying to free himself.

"_Good thinking."_

"The bridge wasn't sturdy, could have happened any time."

"_Get a move on Fisher, we're low on time."_

3:50 hours

I holstered the pistol and pulled hard on his neck, he gasped for air pulling on my arm, his grip weakened before he went limp. I placed him on the ground and pulled out a 'memory dart' as the name was chosen for simple use by me; when coming in contact with an unconscious victim, it releases a serum that causes memory loss twenty to thirty minutes from the present time. I scraped it against his neck and shoved him over the ledge. The body slammed down the natural staircase with loud thumps, before resting in the darkness on the last step.

I stepped up to where the bridge was hanging and looked for another route; the space was six meters across and twelve meters down. The bridge couldn't hold much longer wiping that from my choices which now stuck nil.

A rock lip snuck out four or more meters below the opposite ledge, taking a moment to ready myself I cleared my mind; I stepped to the rope holding the bridge up, then un-sheathed my knife cutting it free, it crashed to the opposite side dislocating the occasional plank.

Taking deep breathes I stepped back for a run up, bolted forward and leapt from the edge, gliding through the air reaching out with my hands; I landed my feet on the lip and caught a slight hold with my hands, though I hit the wall at too greater force. My feet slipped from the wet lip, shooting me down from the hand holds. I snagged the lip in my right hand and hung there swinging; my shoulder sockets and wrists were aching from the catch, I stabled myself with my left hand and took a breath. One pace at a time, I shimmied right towards the bridge. I tugged on one of the planks checking its stability; bringing my feet the bridge and then my body I started up testing each plank as I went until I reached the top.

My body dropped to the ground, and I regained my breath.

A path followed off right into darkness, with the slight glow of light at the end. I crept down clearing ahead with NV, it merged left into an alley leading to a room lit by the orange glow of lanterns; the room was bare with the occasional box in the corner. I crab walked along the wall until I reached the door; the room was clear and bright, in the center of the right wall was a ladder that ascended out of sight. I walked over to the ladder and looked up the access tunnel. The ladder ascended fifty to sixty feet into darkness. I scurried up ten feet and checked for directions "Brunton, where am I headed?" the static hissed in my ear. _"The layout of the Island was hard to get and very basic; You'll need to head to the communications centre first to retrieve the footage, you're in an access hatch thirty meters away from where you need to be heading, the main way to get there will be heavily guarded and almost impossible to infiltrate."_

"Alright, run me through it,"

"_Well, you're not taking that route, I've got an other idea that I'm pretty sure will work,"_

"Always does,"

"_You'll need to reach the surface and scout around for an aerial leading from the communications centre; now judging from the tech, the aerial will be pretty basic, meaning that there will most likely be a maintenance hatch running along it for repairs. That will be your point of entry."_

"If there's no hatch?"

"_Hard route…"_

"Take me two it…"

4:05 hours

I proceeded up the ladder past numerous openings _"Keep on going until you reach the top," _Brunton pointed out.

I climbed the last twenty feet and reached the roof lit by a dim red light; rain belted the wooden hatch and breached the sides, I pulled out my three inch flexible snake camera, nicknamed 'flexi cam'; I released it from my belt and slipped it through the crack of the opening.

The OPSAT's screen breathed to life, an image appeared of a large dark clearing, paved by old uneven stone, in the background a lighthouse shown forth beaming the light through the dense rain. The camera shifted left showing a tower of crates and a light on a post swaying back and forth shining on the wet ground. A figured past the crates and stopped by a small sentry stone wall that lined the edge of the cliff, leaning up against it. I shifted the camera to the rear which showed a dark weapons cache covered by a tin roof. I moved the camera to the right and saw a large mountain like rock with a small opening at the side leading to a dark smugglers tunnel lit by the occasional lantern hanging from the wall. Soldiers patrolled the large clearing; one carried with him a flashlight causing pain for my job.

The hatch would open up into a large dark shadow which I could take to the cache of weapons in the darkness; the centre of the clearing was lit by the glow of the moon and the occasional flash of lightning. The clearing was surrounded by walls: a large one to the rear of the hatch which followed along until the tunnel, a sentry wall to the left that overlooked the sea side and beach, and finally one directly ahead with a large gate way in the middle leading up across a narrow pathway to the lighthouse. In the right off centre of the courtyard was another tower of boxes along with an over head light. To the south east, right of the light post, was a tent colored in green camouflage, light glowed through the stitching and a slight radio hummed.

I scanned once more and placed the flexi cam back in my belt; the hatch creaked open and the rain pelted down. The hatch was open just big enough for me to slip through onto my stomach. A fling of metal sounded to the left, the soldier brought the cigarette to his mouth and cuffed the flame from the wind and rain. I lay there still, imagining my next move countless times. _Move on! _I thought.I slowly shuffled backwards behind the hatch, and counted to twenty… 17…18…19…20, then started moving again keeping my eyes locked on the soldier as well as the surroundings. The rain lightened as my body started entering the cover of the tin roof; I squeezed backwards in between two crates and brought myself to my knees. I peered around the crate in source of other soldiers; apart from the guy with the cigarette the closest soldier stood by the tunnel guarding its entrance, and was passed by the patrolling guard.

I estimated the time before the patrolling guard returned to be forty seconds.

"I've reached the surface, where now?"

"_The antenna is located eighty feet south east from your position, get to it and I'll give you further instructions."_

4:10 hours

"_We haven't intercepted anything from the Chinese, which gives you more time to finish the mission, but that doesn't mean you can take it casually. If either one of those hostages are dead, they've got hell to pay." _Lambert said over the sub-dermal.

"Lambert, I don't like the sound of your voice,"

"_That's because if those hostages aren't back in twenty four hours, the presidents going to take action!"_

"You mean push the button?"

"_That's right…"_

"The 'big red' button?"

"_Afraid so…"_

"That's a bit over the top isn't it, I don't think two hostages is a good enough excuse to go to war, we don't even know there intentions. What if it's a governmental subgroup working out of authority?"

"_We were wishing that was the case, but the entire Chinese government has made accusations that we have made threats and that they were acting in self defense."_

"What did they say about the hostages?"

"_Denied everything. But they did wish to know our intentions of taking that footage."_

"Throw them a bone; tell them what they want to hear: the crew acted out of authority received illegal footage, we were going to take action against the crew and then say sorry."

"_We have… but if the Chinese wont admit the disappearance of those reporters, that's a good enough threat for the president. That footage must contain something they don't want to reveal."_

"Its ok, no pressure."

"_Fisher, I don't like it anymore than you do, you can not fail!"_

"Never do," 

The guard finished his patrol past the lighthouse wall, and started down the northern side. I waited for the right moment to move… the guard stopped occasionally in twenty second intervals, looking through the sentry spaces located every three meters along the wall to the beach below.

The other soldier stamped the cigarette with his foot and moved off the wall; he walked over and pulled open the hatch disappearing into the ground.

That was good, but I still had the guard by the tunnel to deal with.

With my SC-20 flat up against the crate I waited, the shine of a flash light appeared on some crates and foot steps grew louder thudding on the stone pavement. The guard passed by and stopped a few feet in front; he was dressed bulkily and was covered in a drenched rain coat. He slotted the G-32 over his shoulder and reached into his pocket pulling out a handkerchief blowing into his nose. I crept forward and brought my fist back, I moved swiftly bringing my hand to his shoulder and slamming my fist into the back of his head. He rag-dolled sideways crashing to the pavement. I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him behind some crates. I pulled off his rain coat and slipped it around myself then walked on slowly by the small wall occasionally looking over the side to the crashing of the waves. The guard was unaware as I walked on, I approached the northern wall and passed by some barrels and rolled up piles of rope. I proceeded past the gateway to the light house where two guards stood at dull attention; as I approached some crates and the large military tent which was surrounded by shadow, I scanned for movement around the tent, there was none apart from the shadow that moved on the inside. I shredded the coat and stuffed it in a loose crate; the guard by the tunnel lost consciousness against the wall crossing his feet. The tent revealed an IR view of three men: two sitting down at a table playing what appeared to be cards, and the third bending over a map pressing his glowing mug against his lips.

Concealing myself in the corner behind some barrels I contacted Brunton

"Brunton, I'm at the coordinates you gave me, I don't see any antenna."

"_I'm sorry, the antenna is actually on the other side of the south wall your near. It over looks the rocky cliff face and sea."_

"You couldn't have possibly told me this before I got here could you? Cause there's no way I'm getting over that; it's at least forty foot straight up."

"_It's ok, if I'm right you should be right near a trapdoor that opens up to the maintenance hatch, now Grim says there are no alarms installed so you shouldn't have to worry."_

"My trust in you is starting to weaken, I wish to know one hundred percent of the plan from now on, and it might give me different options in going about my objectives." I said angrily.

"_Boy, I know not to wake you next time." _He said as the radio crackled

"_It's ok James, just his age." _Jennifer added.

"Grim, still no scanners!" I said sarcastically.

"_Right… sorry." She said_

I moved around in search of the trapdoor, I flipped the trident goggles over my eyes and switched to EM, or electro magnetic, which reveals any form of power source in a light blue fuzzy appearance. I checked the ground and looked through crates; a small faded light blue picture appeared through the bottom of a crate. I switched off EM and shifted the crate quietly to the side. A wooden trapdoor two foot by two foot was imbedded into the pavement with a small ring handle on the end.

"Got it,"

"_Good…" _the sub-dermal crackled followed by Lambert's rushing voice _"Sam, we've just intercepted a call, a Chinese General is heading your way by helicopter. He's what they've been waiting for, your time has been reduced, he'll be arriving at 4:40 hours; that leaves you with twenty minutes Fisher!" _

"Better move!" I said.

The door was stiff, so I helped it along with my Sykes; my Sykes is a top of the line military knife which I have carried with me through many conflicts, razor sharp, serrated on one side and smooth on the other, the blade is Teflon coated for electrical situations and gives me an almost bloodless clean cut. 

The door creaked open and stood to the side; foot steps sounded followed by the shuffling of the tents curtains. I froze in a crouch and waited, he spoke up sending my hairs on my neck stiff "Hey, you got any cigarettes?" I didn't respond "Hey what are you doing… look are you deaf? ciggy's!" I couldn't ignore it; I spun around bringing the SC-20 from the holster and raising it to his height. His eyes widened before I shot the secondary trigger, the air foil round shot out of the under-barrel in a thump; it struck him in the forehead knocking him flat to his back.

1…2…3…4… I counted until I reached ten. The soldiers' shadows still appeared in the tent as they went on playing. I holstered the rifle and dragged his body behind some crates stabbing a dart into his neck. "I'm moving."

The space was small as I shuffled past a small light and electrical conduit. The path veered off right leading into another access hatch lined with a small ladder; I slipped through and snagged the first rung. The space was small with all the water pipes and conduits leading to the bottom; the tunnel descended down seventy feet lit by dim lights spaced two meters from each other. A mesh like cage followed the ladder down; inside the cage was a large white conduit which that followed the ladder and veered off through the wall out of sight.

"I've reached the maintenance tunnel."

"_Ok, proceed down thirty feet and stop."_

"Moving,"

4:30 hours

The OPSAT's display showed ten feet and lowering

**8f… 6f… 4f… 2f… **

**Destination reached**…

"Ok, Brunton what now?" the static hissed.

"_To your direct front is what?"_

"A cage, conduits, a light?"

"_What's inside the cage?" _I changed my view to see a vent letting off slight vibrations through the air.

"Antenna conduit, and… a vent."

"_Gotch'ya!" _the vents were located every ten meters throughout the shaft to stop over heating._ "That vent leads directly to the command room, and communications."_

"I thought the blueprints you had were basic?"

"_I upgraded. How big is the space? You reckon you could fit?" _

"It'll be tight, but yeah… just." The vent was roughly 1.5 foot high, and 2 feet wide.

"_That's your entry point."_

"You know Brunton, it would be awfully difficult to make repairs in these shafts,"

"_That's because they weren't purposed for this, they were originally escape routes in WWII."_

"Well that explains a lot."I checked my OPSAT, it said nine minutes till arrival. From my harness I pulled a "burn tie", an eight inch magnesium primacord. Once ignited, magnesium will burn hot and fast at five thousand degrees Fahrenheit, cutting through absolutely anything like a scalpel through jelly.

I molded it onto the cage in the shape of a circular hole just big enough for me to pass through, and then pushed off the ladder leaning my back against the conduits closing my eyes shut tight. I pushed the button on my OPSAT, a sizzle sounded before a piercing scrape of metal. I sensed the bright blinding light through my eye lids and smelt hot burnt metal rise up the shaft. I pushed firm on the circular cut dislodging it from the cage. Leaning in the hole I un-sheathed the Sykes and started unscrewing the screws, once done I jerked the cover off and lodged it in some pipes. The fit was tight, especially when you carried with you: an SC-20 assault rifle, a pistol, three forms of grenades, utility belt equipped with ammo and stock for the guns, a bullet proof "rhino-plate" vest, and a dozen pockets full of gadgets that make my life easier. Though it may seem like a lot, it really doesn't slow me down, each object is placed in spots that won't interfere with movement, the vest is one inch in thickness but stops an AK-47 a point blank range; my rifle is thin and lightweight but cocks a punch from any distance. And my pistol, well if I didn't have it in my gear; I would not be laying in a confined air vent five floors down in the middle of a piece of rock, who knows where off the coast of China. So, in the long run, I shouldn't be complaining.

I shuffled along a few meters and stopped by an intersection "Brunton, what way?"

"_Left," _I went left and followed it along for a few meters winding left and right. An opening grew near, the air freshened and a breeze passed by. On the ground the shadow of a fan appeared slowly twirling round. I came out underneath it and looked up to the small light at the top of an almost endless shaft "Brunton please tell me I don't have to get up there,"

"_Ok, you don't. Just keep heading forward." _I did just that.

The time was now four minutes and descending; I kept moving on for another minute until I reached another fan, this time it descended, moving at a far greater speed. I felt the suction try to pull me in with force _"You have to go down there." _I leant over the edge and squinted "You're kidding?"

"_Afraid not…"_

"Unless you wanted me to turn up as shredded meat, that's not wise."

"_It's ok, I think I can help you out, I should be able to access the Island's security system and shut off the air vents, not for long though," _Grimsdottir said as she joined in.

"How long are you talking Grim?"

"_Um… twenty three seconds approximately."_

"I can't see past the first, how many fans do I have to pass?"

"_Three, each one is two meters apart. Think you can do it?" _Grim asked.

"I'll give it a shot."

"_Cause Sam, looks like their tech here is better that we though, cause if fail, that'll be our last shot. The base has a back up generator that's separate from the main computer network. I can't hack into that."_

"Than it looks like I don't want to get stuck in the middle." I reached in to my harness and pulled out two magnetic hand grips, roughly the size of my palm; then placed them on one side of the vent; I unraveled a rappelling rope from my harness and weaved it through the hand grips before clipping it back onto the rope "Ok Grim ready when you are,"

"_Stopping vents in three…two…one… go!" _The fans slowed suddenly with the clunk of metal on metal, I crawled over the side and let my legs dangle, and I released the rope with the release clip jolting my way past the first fan _"Fifteen seconds!" _Grim yelled. I released it fully listening to the rope running through the belay. I past the second fan fast; I halted at the last as a series of clangs sounded. _Keep moving! _I ordered myself. Once I passed the last fan I would have to release myself from the rappel and regain another grip in the shaft with my legs and body, otherwise it would be a twenty foot drop straight down. The fan paced my face before I stopped just below the last fan. More clangs sounded and the slow hum of engines started _"Times up!" _the top fan started moving catching the rope as it went; I felt the jolt on my rope as it started shifting me around the shaft bouncing me off the walls. The twirling jolted me around making it extremely difficult to gain a grip in the space. The movement started pulling me up the shaft, the second fan started up slowly tying the rope in the fan pulling me up quicker. The harness caught and wouldn't release, I had to make a decision otherwise I would end up as that meat. The rope would release, I pulled out the Sykes and cut my body free. It snapped with force sending me down the shaft fast. My legs caught the walls sending me upside down, I knew it was going to hurt; I was heading to the ground and was going to land on my back. I flexed my muscles and closed my eyes as I hurtled toward the ground. My back snapped forward sending my knees to my chest. The vents echoed with a bang as the rifle hit down, followed by the goggles that got forced off on the way down. My head lent up against the wall, and my body ached in pain. The fans were at normal speed sending particles of the ropes onto my face. A faded voiced passed by my brain, I tried not to fall unconscious forcing my eyes open.

"_Sam, Sam?! Are you ok sir?!" _I groaned and slowly straightened my body.

"No…"

"_Few that looked painful."_

"It was…" I sat up and unzipped my balaclava removing it from my head; the breeze past through my black military cut hair as I ran my fingers through it.

"_Two minutes left Fisher, you had better keep going."_

"I'm fine, no really I am… no don't worry about it, I'll live, thanks anyway."

"_Sorry, are you ok?"_

"Huh, fine." I sat my body up and placed the goggles back into place. "Ok Brunton. Left or right?"

"_Uh… you have to go left."_

"You know that bang was loud, so they probably no I'm… I'm here." Squeezing my body back down I forced my body back into the crawling space, the OPSAT said 40 seconds till arrival. I had to move faster.

I kept on going through the vents for ten or more meters, the sound of the vents changed from a solid shuffle to a hollow shuffle. "Brunton, where am I?"

"_You're directly above a hallway leading to the communications and command rooms. I'd keep noise to a minimum if I were you."_

"I'm a ghost."

An IR view showed lights directly below the vent spaced three meters apart, a red and yellow figure past below and stopped at the end leaning against the wall. I past several pylons located across the roof and approached an air ducted shining light through the dusty air. Underneath me I passed by the guard, my OPSAT read ten seconds till touch down. The static of a radio buzzed below followed by the muffled voices of a two way _"The General has landed, he'll be down in a second. Open the doors as he comes!" _the radio clicked off before he replied "Ok, we'll be waiting."

"_Sam, he's arrived," _Brunton stated.

"I heard." I replied.

"_Keep moving the take a right to the command center."_

The vent crossed an intersection leading left and right; I took a right and followed it to an air ducted, I slipped my flexi cam in the grating waited for the image. The room was small, and brightly lit by fluorescent lights that lined the edges of the walls. In the centre of the room was a large table covered in strategic maps of what appeared the surrounding area, and the occasional folder and A4 sheet of paper. I wriggled the cam around further to see a guard at attention by the door; next to the guard was a black phone attached to the wall along with an overflowing corkboard.

An echo of doors opened through the vent followed by loud footsteps approaching the room. The door swung open and the guard stepped to attention, a Chinese General entered the room, chucking his leather jacket to the table. An airman followed in behind holding with him a laptop computer and a metallic briefcase.

"_Fisher, run this through!"_

"One step ahead of you," I changed the flexi cam to record on my OPSAT and flowed the image back to base.

The General signaled the airman and he walked over placing the laptop on the glass table. The General opened the laptop and pressed some keys. The screen faded black and flowed with writing before it faded and then appeared to an image of a man sitting in a room lit by the glow of a wood fire and red curtains with first class furniture.

The General signaled the airman once more; he walked over and placed the brief case on the table then left, closing the door behind him.

The computers speakers let out a fuzzy voice _"General," _the man said.

"Sir," the General replied.

"_What is the situation?"_

"The crew of the crash escaped," the face snapped up. "We captured two of the men that took the footage, they're not speaking, and the other was killed."

"_How much do they know?" _the voice said angrily.

"A lot, I have with me the footage," he reached down and unclipped the brief case, pulling out a disk "Do you want to see?" the face nodded. He slipped the disk into the laptops tray then pressed a few keys; the screen showed a progress bar that read the percent of download. The man's face went serious as he looked into his computer. The room was silent before the footage ended; he looked to the screen again, and folded his arms.

"What should I do with it?"

"_Destroy it," _I stiffened and hesitated. _"We can't have the Americans find this, they know too much already, and they also know that we have something to hide, and they know about the hostages."_

"What should I do with the hostages?"

"_Kill them," _I went pale and wanted to send a bullet through there heads, the General stepped back and leant up against the table "If they find out…"

"_Make sure they don't then,"_

"Yes sir," he tapped a key and the image died, he walked to his radio and talked into it "I have my orders, kill them." He went back to the desk and flicked through a folder, I zoomed in on the files, though it was hard to read, my Chinese was good enough to notice three words underlined by his finger- _'Trojan horse, Lanzhou.' _I filed it into my OPSAT and went back to work.

I closed my eyes and held back my anger "Sir, I can't let him do it!"

"_Hold back you feelings…" _Lambert said, but it was too late, the muffled crackle of gunshots came over the radio. The General put the radio back on the table and knocked on the door. An airman entered the room and handed him a computer chip; he slotted it into the side of the laptop and closed the screen. Sparks and smoke rose from the laptop, entering the vents. The General left the room and closed the doors.

"Sir…" I closed my eyes and breathed heavily.

"_I know… there's nothing you could have done,"_

"Maybe not but I could have tried!"

"_No, what you did was right, the outcome couldn't be changed." _Lambert said.

"Two civilians died doing what they thought was right. And I sat here and watched. I could have freed them first!"

"_Fisher… Sam, you did try. You helped by continuing what they started."_

"I don't think they had 'a bullet to the head', as part of their plan… That footage is fried; even I know I can't fish out the leftovers."

"_Grim, think you can get something out of it?" _Lambert said.

"_No. Fisher's right, the footage is fried." _Grim answered.

"My mission's been a failure Lambert… what now?"

"_Now, extraction,"_

"That's it? No assassination of a certain General?"

"_I know how you feel Sam, but I've got another mission brewing up for you."_

"I feel as though this has been a waste of time."

"_No, that's not true; you've given us more incentive to investigate the matter. Brunton will now run you through extraction." _The static changed again _"Ok Sam, I've been running over the islands schematics numerous times, trying to find the best route." _Brunton said as the slight sound of

"What have you got for me James?" I said.

"_The vents are scrubbed from the picture due to the back up generator, so here are your options:"_

"Fire away."

"_You can take the hard route out, passing through multiple checkpoints, patrols and then take the only route up: a guarded elevator."_

"Any other options?" I said with hesitation.

"_Hoping you'd say that, I just noticed a small tunnel leading out three floors below your feet into the ocean, it's small but should be suitable for ex-filtration."_

"What's the tunnel used for?"

"_Um… well, it's a sewer system,"_

"Will it be submerged?"

"_Yeah, why?"_

"I can't, I don't have my re-breather harness, and I left it on the beach."

"_Oh, yeah…" _There was a slight pause followed by shuffling through the microphone. _"Well, you have one more option: Grim says that the vents fans were run on the back up generator, so if you could tamper the generator or even just turn it off, the base should be dark and powerless; just what you like."_

"Then take the vents back up, through the shaft, over the wall, onto the beach and then through to extraction."

"_Exactly,"_

"But there's got to be a kink in the plan somewhere, it's never that easy?"

"_Well, this time it is."_

"Really… Let's go then,"

"_Let's,"_


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

National Security Agency

Forte Meade, Maryland

15:20 hours 18th July

**THE** NSA lies five miles outside the town of Laurel, Maryland, within the confines of an army post named after a civil war hero, Gordon Meade. The NSA' location is the best known secretive intelligence agency in the world, providing information from every form of view along with taps on phone calls on almost every line in the world. The NSA needed a different way of going about getting information for national security; and Third Echelon was the answer. Third Echelon was the answer for getting information into the NSA off the radar, without any knowledge to the outside world; sending in operatives known as "Splinter Cells" to get the job done.

The Osprey's cargo bay door opened up onto a large airstrip half a mile away from the NSA. Lambert stood up leaning against a black shiny Cadillac puffing a cigar in his mouth with one arm folded. His stands '6" tall and is solidly built all over. His African-American background gave him a look of superiority as he stood there blowing the smoke from his mouth. Another person stepped out, Grim; a skinny figure with brunette hair and a lightened expression to her face. She stood next to Lambert leaning also against the Cadillac as I walked down the ramp.

Lambert pulled the cigar from his mouth puffing a ring of smoke "Glad you made it Sam," Lambert said. The boot popped up and I chucked the duffle bag in the back "Glad to be back," I answered.

"Get in; we've got a lot to talk about."

The driver stepped out and opened the door; I stepped in opposite to Jennifer sitting down on the black leather lined with red stitching. Lambert slid in and sat in the opposite seats facing me. The Cadillac's engine purred and took off across the runway.

"What's the situation?" I asked.

"Not good," Lambert responded "So far the president doesn't know that the hostages are dead, the longer he doesn't know the more time we have to sort this out,"

"And how are we going to do that? The footage is gone; all the reporters that could have given us details on the image are dead… there's not much more to figure out."

"But actually there is,"

"Really?" I asked. Lambert shuffled through a folder then pulled out some documents. "Here," he past me a large personnel file with a photo of a man on the front. I spun it upright and asked "Who's this?" the man was dressed in formal military clothing wearing the star of a General.

"This is the man we saw through the laptop on your last mission; Horishi Otomo, former vice president, now secretary of defense." Lambert answered.

"What's his involvement on the matter?" I said passing the file back to Lambert.

"Where not sure, that's one of your primary objectives on your next mission." The Cadillac turned right shifting me in my seat, as it floated onto a gravel road. "We believe that the Chinese presidents denying of the matter was true,"

"And that, all this happened behind his back?"

"We believe so…"

"What about the footage? He admitted to that,"

"We know, but he most likely doesn't know the whole story. So we believe that Horishi Otomo is running an organization behind his back, and it appears the military is supporting him." I looked out the window as we approached the front gates.

"Have we approached their president?"

"No chance, they deny any negotiations that we offer, the fatalities back in Congo were reported; a mistake not to be made again. But we have got one man on the inside; Long Dan, vice president of China."

"How's he helping?" the Cadillac passed the first two gates, passing numerous scanners, license ID's and armed security car checks.

"Apparently he's just as keen on preventing a war just as much as we are; he's offered to negotiate between the two governments and hopefully lower the tension." The doors opened and the driver stood at attention. I looked across to Grim and gave a smirk "What are you doing?" she paused from hacking the board and looked at me "Uh… well, I'm trying to trace the room where the conversation took place, by the looks of it; it took place in the Chinese state embassy." She said hacking once more into the keys.

Lambert slid across and stepped out "Come on, we'll explain inside."

The door opened and I got out pulling the duffle bag from the trunk; I entered the building, scanning the several retinal and fingerprint scanners before placing my bag on a conveyer belt that ran through a metal detector scanning what ever items that lay inside. I entered the main foyer where yet another metal detector awaited; I passed through slowly and the alarm went off. Grim and Lambert stopped and turned around, both with sarcastic faces. The guard walked over with a hand held metal detector about to frisk my clothes; I signaled him not to bother and pulled out an automatic 55-Colt pistol from the holster under my black leather jack, flipping it around so the butt of the pistol was accessible. The foyer was large and brightly lit from the many lights that hung from the ceiling and the large sky light that lit the National Security Agency emblem on the black marble floor. The room was also littered by numerous guards and security cameras covering every section of the foyer.

A _ding _sounded ahead followed by elevator doors opening up; Grimsdottir Lambert and I stepped inside and slid our ID cards through the scanner then pressed floor five. There was a long silence before I broke it "Where's James?" I asked.

"He's gone to collect your present from the NDT," or National Defense Technologies. "He'll be back soon."

"Good, I like presents." The elevator slowed and halted on the fifth floor below ground. The doors opened to a large room littered with plasma screen TVs along the walls, each one showing either a face, satellite image of a place, heat signatures, or flowing matrix codes. The room was practically bare of presence apart from the occasional agent typing into his computer.

We walked in and entered a large conference room with a large mahogany table running through the middle. I left my gear by the door and sat down in one of the seats. Lambert followed placing a folder on the table; Grim did the same only her laptop. Lambert pulled out a remote and clicked a button; the windows to the room faded grey and outside visibility was cut off.

"Your next mission Sam will take place at eleven hundred hours tomorrow night. You will be infiltrating the Chinese state embassy in hope to recover the footage." Lambert said. We focused our attention on a plasma screen as it zoomed up close from a birds eye view.

"I thought the footage was destroyed?" I asked crossing my arms leaning back in my chair.

"Not entirely… take it away Grim," Lambert said.

"Well, from what I can tell, the computer network Horishi Otomo used was un accessible by hacking. Now that type of network keeps an archive mainframe deep within the system, providing whatever it needs, even if it has been totally deleted. It has most likely been deleted but if you get in there you should be able to upload the memory to Third Echelon for further viewing. Though it has to happen soon, if they find this out they can destroy the whole system, leaving us with nothing." They looked back to me in response,

"Sound solid. What do you think Lambert?"

"I think it's good, it's just do you think you can do it? This is no ordinary embassy you're going to be infiltrating. There will be top notch security, and almost impenetrable walls." I looked at the screen and examined the building tapping my fingers on the table. "It's doable."

"Good, I hoped you would say that," he pulled out another file and slid it across the table into my hands. The photo was of Otomo entering the embassy door. "One of our men has taken these images; so far we've had no word of him leaving the building, giving us the best opportunity to take him down. The Chinese president wants proof, if not; he's forgetting the matter; so Otomo's confession and the recording earlier on should be enough."

"What if we don't like what's on the footage?" I said sliding the image back.

"We'll cross that bridge when it comes." The doors swung open and Brunton stumbled in. He sat down at the table and dropped a large metal briefcase on the table. "Sorry, had a few things to pick up." He unclipped the brief case and opened it, inside was several small items. I peered over the table and into the briefcase "What have you got for me James?" I asked. He reached in and pulled out a small black rubber bullet and fiddled with it in his fingers. "This is your latest LTL device," chucked it across the table into my lap "Fired from your under-barrel at ranges from ten to one meters, fired at either body or head; though head will cause instant unconsciousness, it still should be used with caution, can cause fatal outcomes; I suggest for that outcome, stick with the ARF. Fired at the body or chest will stun, depending on weight and size of the victim, most likely to throw the off there feet dazed. We had a volunteer offer to be tested; at ten meters he was thrown one meter onto his back, stunned, winded and slightly conscious. Basically, it's like a riot bullet; Nicknamed 'Bulldog'." I chucked it back and he placed it in the case "Cool…" I said.

He pulled out another object, one smaller, thinner and metal. "This is your latest in lock picking Sam." once again he chucked it to me, it was the size of a straw but flattened at either end; I gave a smirk "This doesn't look like a lock pick."

"It's because it more like an automatic lock pick, though advised for quick getaways. All you have to do is: insert it into almost any form of lock, ignite the end and step back. It's filled with the same materials as the "burn tie", severing the pins in the lock with a flash of light and a sizzle. Though once used, it can't be used again."

"Let's hope I won't need it." I said chucking it back. The room was silent, apart from the occasional rings out in the foyer. "Ok Sam, do what you want, but your plane leaves at approximately eleven hundred. Be there." Lambert ordered packing up his files. He walked out of the room and closed the door.

I gave Brunton a look "Anyone noticed his stubbornness of late? Or is it just me?"

"Just you; what are you up to tonight? You guys want to come back to my place, grab a beer?" Brunton said standing up. I looked at Grim and shook my head "Don't know about you, but I better hit the sack, get ready for tomorrow." I jumped up and stretched.

"Yeah me too, I haven't slept for three days." Grim said yawning widely.

"Fine, I'll have a beer by myself." Brunton said sarcastically.

I gave a grin and walked to the door "Maybe some other time, it does sound great," we walked out and waited for the elevator. "Hey, how's the Landy?" almost two years ago, I gave James my 2003 Landrover Discovery; he didn't get the big money that I did, so I gave it to him.

"Great… best thing me and the fam have." Brunton is a husband and the father of two girls, its hard to think, but there marriage couldn't be better; I mean, all the time away he would spend, its as if his always there. But that's probably the first layer, there's bound to be some bad circumstances, but there has so far been none.

"Good," the doors opened and we stepped in.

"We just took it 4x4ing last vacation; went up camping at Shelby, Montana. Didn't miss a beat." The more he talked, the more I missed it, and the more I regretted giving it to him. Since then I bought a 2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee, its nice, but I'd prefer the Landrover.

Grim gave a chuckle and pressed the first floor button, then swiped her card. "Boys and their toys… hold on, is 'boy' the right term?" I folded my arms and laughed. "Huh, sure."

* * *

The driveway to my farm house followed a two hundred meter dirt track through an alley of Columbian pines. The drive way opens up onto a small personal car park directly in front of the house, circling around a large antique fountain. The house had proof of renovations and the occasional cracked roof tile. It was stone and smothered in vines from top to bottom; the house was surrounded by acres of lush farmland and forest, backed on to a small river that I would usually go down to fish; the river also had the beginnings of a wharf I was building in my spare time. The house was far too big for one person, fitted with two stories, and four bedrooms each fitted its own personal bathroom and suite. There were two studies, one entertainment room, and a large kitchen that joined with the lounge.

I pulled the hand brake up and turned off the engine, the Jeep shuddered to a stop.

I sat in the seat and watched the leaves blow by the windscreen; the atmosphere was relaxing, quiet, just what a Splinter Cell feels like after returning from a mission.

Grabbing the suitcase from the back, I exited the car and approached the front door. The house had a security system installed due to my work, fitted with sensors connected straight to Third Echelon if anything was to go wrong. To open the front door, an electronic security pin number had to be entered to disarm and set the alarm. Like most of my codes, the pin was Sarah's birth date; 24, 11, 85. I typed it in and pressed disarm. The lock cranked open as I turned it with the keys. The main door opened up to a large room, furnished in modern furniture, with polished wooden floorboards. The room led left, to the kitchen and separate study; and right to the entertainment room that joined with two bedrooms. In each corner were two spiral staircases leading up to the master bedroom, a spare bedroom and the other study.

I stepped into the kitchen and chucked the bag on the table kicking off my shoes. The answering machine said three new messages, which I thought was a surprise.

"Hi Sam, its Maria. Just wondering where you've been the past couple weeks, we've missed you at our classes," every Thursday, if available, I take classes of Krav Maga with which Maria Strag taught, training for relaxation. Just to keep up my fitness. The classes also provide body workouts and self-defense training, all in which I have conquered due to my work, but the classes keep my fitness even; Training to be a Splinter Cell involved years of hard work, training to be better than the best, and overachieving on what you're supposed to. Spending ours exercising self-defense and offensive hand to hand combat training, introducing all the methods of every martial arts system into the program, and spending weeks practicing acrobatic moves: like somersaults, wall running, shimmying, split jumps (a 'split jump' jump is when there is an alley or hallway big enough to run up and extend you legs on either wall holding yourself up high above the victims head.)

And many other acrobatic moves that have many times proved useful for work.

The drainage of training almost killed me, that's why I was chosen. Most men training for the field as a Splinter Cell failed to endure the hard work, leaving them at near breaking point; which I did endure, and it has all paid off. The most painful part of training was the torture, training not to reveal information under any torture or circumstances that could take the lives of American citizens. Third Echelon made sure only those that endured the tests passed on, that in which I almost failed. Sending me into depression and fear of what was to come for several months, spending long nights starring at the ceiling and shivering in bed.

I shook the though from my head and listened to the rest of the message "Well, if you get this message, ring me back to tell me that you're alright. Ok? Well seya." The answering machine beeped than the second message came on, the message was rough and jumbled "Hey, what you up to? Umm… well you're obviously not home so, I'll call back later. Turn off… turn…" the message died, and I gave a chuckle, Brunton was the biggest techno freak but couldn't work his own phone. I clicked the next one to hear the same shuffles as before "… what the? I said turn off…!"

The phone beeped followed by "No new messages."

I walked to the fridge and grabbed a beer, then walked to the lounge and plonked down. A plasma TV stuck to the wall, along with a large surround sound speaker system. I sat there bored, tapping my fingers on the armrest looking out side to the sun setting behind the trees. The TV buzzed to life with a hum of static, I flicked through numerous channels and noticed life was boring, it was all news, comedy (which is my worst theme) and sport, which I don't mind, but golf? I killed the TV and chucked the remote aside taking a sip of the beer. I put my legs to the coffee table and closed my eyes, no sooner dosing off like an old man, which I won't admit to Grim, leaning my head back against the headrest mouth wide open and snoring like a… well I don't know, just snoring.

I gained consciousness, slightly; opening my eyes to a dark room lit by the glow of the moon outside. My clothes were soaked and I jolted up, I fell asleep spilling the beer down my front partially wetting the lounge in the meantime. "Damn!" I got up and gulped the remainder of the beer and walked to my room chucking my black singlet in the clothes basket and jacket to the bed.

I was tired as hell, pulling off the blankets and sliding under a single sheet.

On my bedside dresser were two picture frames, of my daughter Sarah, and wife Carole; they both passed away in a period of three years, leaving me dead and empty, unknown to the outside world. Those three years were the worst of my life, Carole died in an accident striking me to the ground, but Sarah raised me up again; I was almost at the end of the pain from Carole, when Sarah was killed in a terrorist act. Though it wasn't that often we contacted each other, due to her living in London, she was the only thing keeping me going. I remembered the times she would visit, and we'd sit up late watching old movies and eating pizza; or when we would go on road trips across America, and camp up in the mountains. But when she died, regret and anger came upon me; we never saw each other that often, mostly due to my work as an "over seas salesman". I was hard refraining from telling her the truth, especially when she new I was lying, she got that from her mother. She saw my face before she died. She was gagged and tied up with a pistol to her head; her face was sad and tears pelted the floor as I just stood there and watched her execution, followed by mine.

I shook my head of thoughts and rolled over pulling the sheet over my shoulder hoping for some peace of mind.

The next morning up woke up early doing an hour of push-ups, sit-ups and weights, followed by relaxing yoga style air punching. I got dressed in a black muscle shirt and cargo pants along with a black coat over the top. I spent half of the morning working more on the front balcony, setting up the stilts I made myself and attaching a railing to the edge.

I left the house at twenty-four hundred hours and started on my way to a private airport forty-five minutes from Maryland; where Lambert, Brunton and Grim all awaited, inside a small private jet idling on the airstrip.

The jet's sided door opened up to steps that led into a spacious row of red trimmed seats each with its own satellite TV, on the right side of the cabin was a wooden table with black leather seats surrounding it. Lambert and Grim sat at the table filing through their work as Brunton walked down the isle wiping his hands in a tea towel. "Lambert," I said taking a seat.

"Sam," he replied flipping through a file.

"What have you got for me?"

"You will land at a private airport supplied by our embassy over there, in Hong Kong. You will be picked up and then supplied a vehicle to drive to your destination; only two people know of your job over there: a CIA agent Michael Herrin and vice president, Long Dan himself." He took a sip of his coffee and placed the files down.

"Is that the best idea sir?"

"Long Dan doesn't know about Third Echelon, but he knows we're sending in an agent to recover whatever info is needed. Your cover name is Joseph Pot."

"Ok, but can't he just tell us whatever's on the footage?"

"According to his info; their president won't reveal any idea on the matter of the footage. He has kept no evidence of it."

"So I get in there, get the footage, ask Otomo a couple of questions and get out?"

"Precisely, two hours before the conversation between Otomo and the Chinese General, there was a conversation between Otomo and someone unknown, the voice was synthesized and they were good, no names or ranks mentioned, just'sir'."

"Could we trace it?"

"Not a chance, Jennifer was chucked off immediately. Meaning Otomo probably didn't give the orders…"

"I'll find out who did, and who's behind this."

"Good," the plane door closed and the plane rolled to a start. "Get dressed and grab your gear, we'll arrive at approximately nine hundred hours."

I did just that, before resting in the beds provided, hoping to catch some sleep.

* * *

The American Embassy shared a private airstrip with other high powered nations, purposed for political negations, getting men of high importance in and out of the country without the public's knowledge, therefore creating less hassle. The airstrip is an hour's drive rural from a large town called Zhangzhou.

The jet touched down at nine forty five pm, leaving me two hours to get ready and arrive at the CIA safe house ten minutes from the Chinese Embassy.

The doors opened up to a black Lincoln Navigator with the Vice president and several soldiers standing at his side. We walked down a jumped in to the black SUV, followed by Long Dan and Lambert, than two agents in black suits jumped in the front. We all shook Dan's hand before getting to business.

"Otomo is still present in the Embassy, which is probably where he makes his orders and is contactable." Dan says, he checks his watch and continues "I'm am aware of your purpose here Mr. Fisher, and I wont get in you way, something does have to be done about the situation." Long Dan is clean shaven and as skinny as a twig, wearing traditional political clothing, black suite and tie.

Lambert leans forward leaning on his knees joining his hands "Your objectives, you probably know, but I might as well skim them over; your primary objectives are to retrieve the footage and upload it to the NSA; your second is to find out who Otomo is receiving his orders from and who else is involved."

Brunton joined in "Ah, Sam, your extraction point will be an alley one block east from the embassy, where I will be waiting in a black van; I think you know what it looks like."

"Yeah," I said fiddling with the electric windows. Grim opened her laptop and punched a few keys. "Sam, it looks like getting the footage is the easy, but getting in? Well that's another story. The Embassy's is fitted with multiple alarm systems and heavy security. Don't expect the Chinese to be casual, because they wont, the guards are only hired if they never let down there guard, there actions will be quick and precise. So expect difficult situations."

"Glad to see you trust my abilities, I'm flattered." She gave a chuckle and continued punching in keys.

"You should be, not many elderly people can do what you do…" she said sarcastically.

"Hey, who are you calling elderly?" I said pointing my finger sarcastically.

The SUV's high beams lit the road as we continued through the outskirts of the town. We bypassed Zhangzhou and headed to the American embassy a few kilometers away.

Lambert and Long Dan continued discussing the situation the whole trip, as Brunton Grim and I just listened in; well Jennifer was too busy rummaging through her laptop. I stepped in mid conversation cutting Long Dan short, "Colonel, ROE?" the SUV pulled up at the embassy and the Vice president jumped out as the Colonel signaled.

"Aloud, Fifth Freedom if necessary, try to reduce fatalities to a minimum."

The Fifth Freedom was the main installment to the Third Echelon and Splinter Cell program. Fifth Freedom allows freedom of speech, freedom to take whatever steps necessary to save American lives, allowing lethal force for the accomplishment of the mission. It was to be more secretive than Third Echelon itself, allowing an operative to have freedom in his steps. It was my most important rule, to use Fifth Freedom on friend or foe in order to contain National Security. The Fifth Freedom rule was entrusted on Lambert to give the order whenever it may seem necessary.

"I'll try my best to keep it clean." I responded.

"Good," he hopped out and turned around giving my hand a shake "Good luck, stay safe." I gave a grin and replied "Always."

Dan walked into the building with the mobile to his ear and was followed in past the gates by Lambert and a guard.

The SUV pulled up two blocks away from the safe house located in a room above a small takeaway café. Brunton Grim and I jumped out walked the two blocks occasionally checking for presence. We approached the staircase leading to the apartment. Brunton gave three knocks then one light knock, followed by two more heavy knocks. The door swung open and they walked in; I scanned the streets to see if we were being watched then walked in, up the staircase and into a small apartment littered with laptops and photos pinned to the wall. Sitting in a seat was a pale white man wearing glasses and a white shirt with black short cut hair; he was reasonable in figure and appeared as what I would call a 'geek', as he sat at the computer typing furiously as Jennifer would. He looked up and gave a smile as I dumped my suit case containing civilian clothes and items on the floor. He then hesitated then jumped up extending his hand "William, William Redding." His voice was reasonably deep compared to his appearance. I grasped his hand and made him gasp. "Sam Fisher." I looked at Grim and raised an eyebrow. She looked back and motioned Redding to continue "Oh, sorry I'm new to the team, well a recruit; I'm a computer analyst and hacker, but mostly learning Brunton's job." Brunton shrugged and sat down at the computer.

"Why? We don't need anyone else."

"Lambert say's I'll be valuable, I'm in the running to being chosen to guide another Splinter Cell." I looked at Grim and she frowned, "He's good, very good. Almost leaves me for dead." I didn't like the idea of another team member lurching in the background; but if that's what Lambert said, than I'll have to get over it.

"Fine, just don't get in the way."

"I'll try not sir…"

We finished the tense greeting and I got dressed into my black tactical suit; this one was my most used suit, covering all except the head in the same 'Rhino Plate' vest material. I loaded my 5-7 and SC-20 and positioned my goggles. Brunton tapped me on the back and said that it was time. I tightened my shoe lace and headed for the stair case.

"Good luck Sam," Grimsdottir said, "I'll be contacting you from in here, helping you past whatever obstacle I can." I nodded "Thanks,"

We stopped at the door and looked out the peep hole. A black van turned up and signaled three varied flashes from the passenger seat. Brunton cleared the street first and we jumped in the back closing the doors behind us taking off with pace toward the embassy.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Chinese Embassy

Xiamen, China.

12:15 hours 20th July

**THE** van parked in a back alley behind a wall of residential city apartments, one block east of the embassy. The alley was dark, conspicuous, and the last place anyone would want to walk down in the middle of the night. The alley was littered in rubbish: newspapers, cans, bottles, plastic bags ect.

Brunton checked the back of my suit and arranged the pockets. "Good, I've downloaded a GPS route to the embassy and its outside blueprint; contact will be a problem, the embassy has a system that reduces certain areas of the property from radio frequencies, don't ask why, probably for aspects such as 'us'. But if you want to talk, you have to be in the right position. So, Grim has given you a map marked with all the areas that won't be reachable by your sub-dermal, and all the areas that will." I nodded and checked my goggles, "Cool."

"Keep safe, and stay in touch. I'll be waiting." I jumped out and leant on the van roof looking inside "You do know I could go for that beer right about now."

"Offer is still open when you get back."

"'If' I get back," he chuckled and said "Huh, whatever Sam." then closed the van door slamming it to a shut.

I headed deeper down the alley, for another thirty meters. The alley went right, this time leading behind numerous empty commercial type buildings, like cafés and shops. The back doors were barricaded shut with security cages, along with all the windows. I followed the GPS further down until I reached a building with the rear doors covered with police crime scene tape. The tape ripped away revealing the door nailed shut with wood; the planks jerked out one by one before I chucked them aside. There were the remains of a door, charcoaled and missing the top half. I nudged the door open enough for me to enter; inside was empty and black with evidence of numerous tables and chairs, the building was a café that was recently burnt down after a gang of kids caught it alight.

I proceeded through the café and removed the planks at the front door revealing the twenty foot high stone embassy wall, toped with razor sharp wire; I peeked my head out and checked the street; nothing, the street was ghostly and sent shivers down my spine. I bolted across to the embassy wall and reached for a gap in the stones; the holds were small but enough to slowly pull myself up the wall. I reached the top and held myself steady reaching for a small pair of wire cutters in my back pocket. The wire was tough, but it clipped away nicely leaving a gap just big enough for me to scale my body over. The other side of the wall was dark, but lined with the odd camera every ten meters or so; I made sure I would be clear before I grasped the ledge and let my body hang; I relaxed and scanned my landing spot, it was dark and padded with wet grass from the embassy sprinklers. My grasp released and I dropped the height of the wall carrying my descent through bringing my position to a crouch as I landed softly to the grass.

That was another major feat in my training and Krav Maga, acrobatics, catching my weight and landing almost soundlessly to the ground with loosing balance or breaking a leg.

I spun around and flattened my back to the wall; the compound was large, with a paved driveway leading to the front entrance. At the front gates were two booths, only one was occupied. The perimeter was patrolled by two guards, their routes forty seconds apart.

I switched to EM and scanned the compound, I counted five cameras; two watched the gate, two watched the embassy's front door, and one watched the corner opening down its side. I tapped my sub-dermal and checked in "Ok, I'm in."

The static hissed and Lamberts voice came online "Well done, now on to your objectives."

"Roger. Grim, tell me about these cameras, they seem to like them."

"Be careful, the two at the gate are night vision equipped, the two at the door aren't night vision equipped but detect motion. And the one in the corner is fitted with IR." The cameras watching the gate would get a far amount of the compound in view, reducing my options.

"Damn!" The patrolling guards neared closer on my position, I dropped to the grass and waited; the crumbling of gravel passed by slowly, as each guard walked by. I moved slowly along the grass to the small corner and stopped out of the line of sight of the camera. I floor up the wall was a window dark on the inside. I realized that was my entry point. Another floor up was a lit window with an extendable fire escape ladder above it. I had an idea.

"I'm heading to the roof."

I pulled out my 5-7 and charged the OCP, I aimed it at the camera and clicked the button, and the camera whined and turned off. Not much time was available before it turned back on. This is another example of hours of training paying off and Krav Maga; I made sure no one was watching and stepped back before bolting forward stepping up the wall one step after the other 1… 2… 3… grab! I grasped the ledge and regain my breath. The camera would be out for another two minutes. I held on my right hand and pulled out the flexi- cam, sliding the window a centimeter open, slipping the cam in; my theory was right, a window sensor was fitted.

"Grim, I could use your help."

"I'm on it," a few seconds past and my arm strained. "Got it!"

The sensors clicked then shut off, I slid the window open and pulled myself up; I reached half way inside when the creak of a door sounded. I froze in the most awkward position. A man walked in with a coffee in one hand and a folder under his arm. He switched on the light and my heart stopped as he leant by a table and scanned a news paper that lay there. The camera was nearly back online and the sensor would activate again also. I had to wait longer… he looked around in search of an item. He glanced his sight past me and froze; we starred each other witless before his coffee and folder crashed to the ground. He bolted across the left of the room toward an alarm. Damn! I swiftly reached in and grabbed a grip before snatching out my pistol. I flung through the window coughing two through midair before crashing to the floor. He jerked twice head butting the wall as he fell. Quickly, I changed aim on the door and rolled out of sight behind a desk. 1… 2… 3… 4… I counted before I reached twenty. I jumped up and switched the light then shut the window. The roomed loomed in darkness and I slipped the goggles over my head switching to NV. The man was dead; the bullets penetrated the upper left of his back. I slid him over and shoved him under the desk. Damn. That was messy. I cursed myself and moved to the door.

The door crack at the floor was too small for the cam; I turned the knob and gently opened the door, I peeked out to a hallway lit dimly at the door. The floor was carpeted red and the walls were lined with brass gold lights. At the end of the hallway to the right were three doors at an intersection, guarded by a single camera scanning the hallway. I knew I was out of sight but I still jumped, closing the door slightly. The left of the hallway turned right and out of sight; I needed to know of presence. I slipped the SC-20 of the back holster and inserted a sticky cam, firing at the wall turning off; I closed the door and hid safely, switching the mode on my OPSAT to sticky cam.

A picture fuzzed and snapped to life; an image of the hallway I previously was in appeared, I shifted the image right and focused down the hallway. The hallway was empty from personnel; the end wall had a camera also scanning the numerous doors that I suspected led to other offices and computer rooms.

I stepped out and opened the door examining the camera again. Grim was out of radio contact and I needed her now, though she probably couldn't help. I took a risk. I slid the 5-7 from the holster and spun my hand out from the door and gained a perfect shot on one of the lights. It shattered with noise, but not enough that I hoped would draw attention. I waited and took out the other, the one more. The hallway went pitch black, I stepped out and scurried down it to the end; the doors were: an office, a bathroom and a staircase. I took the latter.

The stairs were dark and empty of security; I proceeded up one floor slipping the cam under the door, it was another hallway identical to the other, only the space where the bathroom was continued on past other offices. At the left end of the hallway, a lone guard was stationed sitting on a seat with his 77-KK Hound at his side. He watched the hallway occasionally giving a yawn. This time of night was quiet and inactive, leaving most of the embassy in lockup and perfect for infiltrating. Above my door was another light. I thought for a moment then took action. I loaded the pistol with a dart and opened the door enough to fit the suppressor of the 5-7; the pistol coughed sending a dart to his leg, he looked surprised then slumped in his chair. I checked the hallway once more then attached to the wall and peeked my small periscope around the corner, empty, except for once again a camera. He sat in a slight shadow that would be good enough for me; I reached out and snatched the dart from his thigh to cause simple lack of awareness when he wakes up; though all will be ruined when they find a body with two bullets jammed underneath a desk. I checked then entered the room identical from the floor below switching the light out as I went, passing the desk with a single lamp and computer with overflowing paperwork. My radio contact was still unavailable to Grim leaving me with no security help. I approached the window and scanned outside; the two guards passed and started passed the entrance. I couldn't move the sensor on the window; otherwise my whole stealthy approach will be screwed. I pulled another device out of my suit used by most Special-Ops and Seal forces; it's an extendable glass cutter that slices then injects a high dose of a fuming form of gas that burns away at the sliced groove creating a perfect circle big enough for my liking.

The suction grip tugged the window and I pulled freeing a hole big enough for me to slip through. I placed the glass on the floor and slipped out above the cameras line of sight then shot upwards tagging the extendable ladder with both hands climbing up slowly stopping whenever the guards did their rounds.

The ladder passed two more windows before it reached the roof. I pulled myself to the last rung and peeked over the edge; a single guard was patrolling the perimeter of the roof, taking the time to stop and occasionally look up at the bright starry night. Over his shoulder an MP-60 was slung, he gripped it ready for instant use. The roof was graveled and spaced with numerous electrical rooms and breakers. I waited until he disappeared behind an electrical compartment, and then pulled myself up to a crouch creeping to the compartment, sticking flat against it. The guard continued and moved anti-clockwise around the compartment and I did the same. I checked no one was looking before I crept up slowly and unsheathed my Sykes. He stopped and reached into his pocket pulling out a packet of cigarettes. I moved slowly inching my hand to his head; he flicked the lighter and lit the smoke in his mouth. I gripped my arm around his neck knocking the cigarette out; he gasped and dropped the MP-60 trying to release my grip. He stopped struggling when I touched the cold blade of the Sykes against his throat. We stepped around and into a shadow that suited my liking then contacted Grim "Grim, I'm on the roof."

"_Cool, this is good, the building below was well occupied and awake, but the building where Otomo's room is, is much quieter. See you got some company?"_

"I got lonely."

"_Of course, I understand due to our lack of communication, you missed me."_

"I highly doubt that; can this guy be of any assistance?" I asked.

"_Sure, there are a few voice scanners in the next building, might come in handy."_

"Totally," I brought my mouth to his ear and whispered "Nice night. I need you to talk to a certain pain in the butt, can you do that? Nothing stupid." I brought the OPSAT to his mouth, "Say something…"

"What do you want me to say?!" the OPSAT beeped and Grim thanked.

"That'll do. Now tell me something that'll stop me from chucking you over the edge." His eyes widened "No, please! I can tell you that there are cameras,"

"No… really? Don't be stupid, it's a long way down."

"What about lasers? Yeah, they installed lasers, that's good isn't it?"

"Lasers, hmm… what else?"

"I don't know! Sensors, voice locks, checkpoints? I… I can give you a code to the staircase door. Its nine-five-five-three." he stuttered.

"It'll have to do. Nice doing business with you." I pulled hard on his throat incapacitating him after a short gasp. He went limp and I placed him neatly in the shadow jabbing him with both the tranquilizer and memory dart. I secured a small perimeter of the roof near me before contacting Grim "The Chinese are stepping down in tech if you ask me." a piercing voice came online _"Why do say that?"_

"Well with all the techno junk they make, you'd expect something better than lasers. I mean, lasers are so…"

Grim cuts me short, finishing the sentence _"…Nineties?" _

"…Well, actually, I was going to say seventies, will you stop making me feel old!" I said, feeling myself tense up.

"_Got bad news for you Sam, you are old." _I gave a chuckle and moved on. The staircase from the roof was lit by a single light and guarded by a camera. I didn't want to go down, not yet. I secured my area and continued until the roof dropped down one level, that was reached by a small ladder. I fell to my belly and crawled to the edge of a three meter drop. The space below was small, with a large chrome ventilation system centered in the middle. It over looked a large courtyard that led to another large building with which Otomo and the server would be found; the courtyard had a large fountain running along the middle. The outskirt of the courtyard was lush in flowers and ferns, with a footpath running in between. The courtyard was lit by several lights on poles spaced evenly along the footpath.

To my right on the level below me was another door, this time code locked as the guy said. When I was sure it was clear, I slipped over the edge landing in a crouch. I peered over the edge to the drop into the courtyard; I switched to EM and searched for cameras, I found several; three were on the walls on the current building, two were in the courtyard hidden with the lights, and another two on the opposite building. I fell to my stomach again, and peeked directly over the ledge; below me some six meters, was a balcony; I decided that was my route. I pulled the rappel from belt and clipped it to a pole by the vents then slid over the ledge upside-down stomach first. I pressed the release button on my OPSAT and I descended slowly. I descended just enough for me to peek into the room; I grabbed the doors seal and looked in to find a lounge room with a man sitting on the couch, mouth wide open. "Perfect." I mumbled. He tossed and turned before jumping up, yawning, then scanning for an item. Below me was a pack of smokes sitting on the ledge; I quickly snatched them up and ascended a few centimeters. I dropped the smokes to the ground then whistled lightly. He walked out curiously and picked up the smokes, leaving himself venerable. I knew it was a risk but I took it, I descended slowly and gripped around his head with both my arms, lifting him off the ground. He jerked furiously, before he weakened then died out, he dropped to the balcony unconscious with a thump.

I unclipped my rappel and somersaulted to the balcony. The room was furnished with expansible gear. It appeared to be an off-duty lounge room lit by a single light and the watery glow of a large fish tank imbedded in the wall occupied by numerous tropical fish. I checked for cameras, none; then scanned the blueprints. I needed to get to the other building, and the courtyard was my only route. Grabbing the body by the collar I shoved him neatly in a nearby cupboard and locked the door; then scanned over the balcony for camera positions; the cameras scanned left and right, leaving no part un-guarded, I watched for a few minutes and memorized there separate routes. It was going to be hard, leaving no chance of mistake; I was about to move when speaking sounded, then clunks of power starting up, the courtyard was soaked in light as numerous spotlights and garden lights came online. Three men walked out of the current building and walked across the yard; one looked familiar, the Chinese General on the island! The other two were probably just guards. I snapped a picture with my OPSAT as they passed a card through the door then entered. A few seconds passed and a single room in the other building lit up, shadows of the General and guards entered the room, joined by who I presumed was Otomo. I switched my goggles to microphone then zoomed in on the glass; a small microphone is implanted in the system, which can record normally or pick up the vibrations on the glass then synthesize them to English through my sub-dermal.

The speaking started muffled before it came online_ "…is ready." _The voice was the General,

"_Good, he will be pleased." _Otomo.

"_What now…" _static _"…the Americans are getting curious; we're taking a risk even talking about it here. We must act now!" _Chinese General.

"_I know, I will get my orders soon enough! Huh, the Americans won't see it coming…" _phone rings and Otomo picks it up _"Hello? Yes, ok… What? Crap! I will be careful sir. But is this a secure line? Good. Thank you sir… of course, I will give them straight away, bye." _ A few seconds passed before Otomo speaks up _"These are your orders, take them and be careful."_

"_Yes sir," _a door closed and the room was quiet, there were more footsteps before it appeared that he picked up a phone _"Jackie? I'm going to bed now, lock the place up when they leave, I want to sleep soundly in my bed. Thank you." _Another moment passed before the room went dark. The General and his two guards crossed the courtyard and entered the building; the door closed and metallic locks crunched. The courtyard loomed into darkness apart from the dim garden lights, the fountains constant trickle of water stopped, leaving the embassy spookily quiet. From my building a guard walked out and shone a torch across the yard then entered the other building locking it closed. My building would still have presence, due to late night workers. I mantled over the railing and dropped quietly to the ground behind some bushes making sure I was not seen by a camera; they were most likely NV equipped, so creeping to the other side would work; I practiced my movements in my head a couple of times, then scanned the balconies to make sure I was alone. I waited for the precise moment, then it came; a blind spot ran directly beside the fountain for eight seconds, in a low crouch I scurried across the yard directly along the fountain, I counted the seconds in my head and new I wouldn't make it; I dived to the ground and rolled as close as I could to a bush and laid there motionless. I was stuck and freaking out that I got spotted by the camera.

12:35 hours

Thirty second passed before I was certain that wasn't spotted; I slowly crawled along half inside the bushes for a few more meters slowly checking the position of the cameras. I was hoping that the NV on those cameras weren't high-tech, meaning that my dark figure in the bushes wouldn't be noticed. I took the chance. The bushes ended three meters from the entrance; I looked by the entrance and saw a large bin. I slowly crawled centimeter by centimeter until I reached the bin then worked my way around it until I was out of sight. I looked along the outside wall of the building and figured my only way in was the door. On the blueprint, showed that I was in a contactable zone, I radioed in "James, I'm at the building, any ideas on getting in?"

"_The door is the only entrance."_

"Damn, ok I'm on it. Grim you reckon you could distract those cameras? There's no way I can get in unnoticed."

"_Hold on… yeah I can do it, not for long though." _She said.

"Gonna have to beat my record on lock picking then."

"_Say when," _Ipulled out my lock picks and took a deep breath "When!"

"_Go!" _I ran to the door and went to work, jiggling the picks in my hand feeling the occasional click of a door pin opening. I contained my sweat and relaxed knowing that panic will slow me down. The door clunked, a little too loud for my liking. I swung the door open and stepped in to a dark corridor. I released my breath and contacted Grim "I'm in," the slight glow of red lines occupied the open air, from one side of the corridor to the other. They were positioned horizontally and diagonally.

"I've found the lasers,"

"_What, those 'way out of fashion' lasers?" _ She giggled.

"Yeah, those ones… I'm moving on."

Brunton spoke up _"Ah, Sam, contact me when you you're the foyer."_

"Got it."

The hallway was pitch black, leading to a door of what I presumed was the main foyer. I weaved through the lasers slowly, stretching muscles I didn't even know I had; occasionally dropping to the floor and sliding on both my back and stomach. The lasers were hardly visible, a dim line would pierce the air and bounce off particles of dust, leaving a basic idea of there positions. I past the first set of laser and a few office doors, all in which were empty; I continued along following the blueprint toward the main foyer.

The walls were glowing in dots when I changed to EM; the vision is blurry and not good enough to proceed on. I turned off EM and pulled out a spray bottle giving the air a good spray, it revealed more lasers scattered in different directions. Again, I squeezed through them slowly until I reached the large foyer door. The last set of lasers were lined roughly forty centimeters apart forming a security wall; I dropped to the floor and slid through running my body up the door, there was no space to turn around, so I tried the door knob. Locked. Picking the lock wouldn't be impossible, but damn hard. I pulled out my flexi-cam and pointed it at the door, slowly bringing the OPSAT to my face; I turned it to IR on the OPSAT revealing a slight reading, the room was cold and there were no personnel present to my knowledge. The flex-cam slid back to my belt and I un-sheathed the Sykes, inserting it into the lock; one hard jerk was all it took. The door's lock snapped loudly and the door creaked open. I grabbed the knob preventing it from swinging, opened it enough for me to turn around then peered the flexi-cam through the opening.

The foyer was large and lit by a large domed skylight in the ceiling, to my left were half a dozen doors: a set of male, female toilets, a door with a staircase picture on the front and the rest I presumed offices. To my right were a reception and another door. Directly ahead of my door were two large staircases carpeted in red carpet; I could never figure out why red it such a popular color in embassies. The stairs mirrored each other spiraling up to the next level.

I walked in and hid in a shadow along the wall, the scanned for more lasers, none, apart from a few dozen by the skylight and windows. Then, I froze and became invisible, the guard from before came walking down the steps yawning as he went; he walked across the black tiled floor and in the room by the reception. The light flicked on and his shadow under the door stopped. I slid along the wall out of the cameras line out sigh and approached the reception. These cameras had no NV meaning there area covered was minor, straying into the center, would provide a good enough outline to sound an alarm. I scanned the room with the cam then entered slowly; he sat there concentrating on the CCTV footage, back to the door. I pulled the 5-7 from the holster and crept up behind his chair; I gripped the back of his neck tightly and rammed the suppressor against his temple. At first he struggled and tried to break free, but that stopped, I pushed his head forward into the desk knocking off his coffee.

He was a big guy, 6'5"… 6'6" maybe. A guy you wouldn't want to tick off at a late night pub.

"How's your nose? I'm not gonna kiss it better."

"What are you doing here?" he said muffled as his fat cheek was squashed against the wet desk.

"I ask the questions. Your security's pretty tight, can I expect anymore on the upper floors?"

"You really think I'm going to tell you that?!"

"Yeah, I do…" I pushed the suppressor harder.

"Ok, yeah, there are more lasers and voice locks. I've told you what you want now let me go!" he said.

"Now why would I do a stupid thing like that?"

"So I can properly introduce myself!"

"Feisty," I kept my aim perfect and touched record on my OPSAT "Talk,"

"No!"

"Thank you. Now, is Otomo al…" he surprised me well and suddenly, knocking me off balance. He pushed off the table and sandwiched me into the wall winding me. I slammed the butt of the pistol into his head of rock… nothing. He pushed out and elbowed me in the cheek with a whopping blow. I fell to the ground dazed but aware. He ran for the alarm but I locked up our legs tripping him to the floor. We got up quickly to our feet, myself in his route to the alarm.

If he was military trained and spent most of his time at the gym, he could pummel me, I just hoped he wasn't. He jumped forward and I positioned my legs; he took a swing and I ducked, then another, then another. His swing were powerful enough to take me out in one blow, he took another but I blocked it with my arm then countered; I went for the knee cap kicking it with my foot. He gasped then fell to one knee, the effect wasn't what I wanted, and his body was made of steel. He shot up and charged for the door, I bolted after him as he went for an alarm. I caught up quick, though he turned to face me; I ran to the wall and sprang towards it kicking off with my left foot diving him to the ground. He most likely broke a rib but got back up. Damn. He took a less powerful swing; I grabbed it then hammered his head into the reception desk. He went limp and lay there soundlessly. I rubbed my cheek and congratulated him for actually laying a 'rare' punch on me. The security here chooses their men wisely I thought.

I hoped this show wasn't caught on camera; otherwise half of China's police will be marching in that door.

I dragged his body behind the reception and took a breather, then checked the blueprints for the main archives room. It was below in a basement, which can be accessed by a staircase.

"_Well that went well, I mean look on the bright side, not many people your age can do that." _Lambert said.

"Is there a compliment in there somewhere, or are you trying to get a point across sir?"

"_Sorry Sam, but you're getting too old for this type of thing."_

"Stop listening to Grim, if you go by her definition of old, you'd need to issue diapers with every set of goggles…" I said annoyed.

"_And if I keep listening to you, it'll be senior undergarments." _He said with a deep chuckle.

"That was cruel…"

I jabbed him with a dart then went back into the security room; there were multiple screens flicking from different cameras in the building. Then I pulled out a computer bug and crawled under the desk; there were multiple cords, I picked the right one then cut back the rubber with the knife then tapped the bug to the appropriate wires. This means that Grim and the agency will have full footage of the security cameras in this part of the embassy, might come in handy. I got up then pulled out a special flash drive from the OPSAT then plugged it into the port on the computer. The drive is will copy every file in the computers memory, hopefully giving us the records on who has been here recently.

The OPSAT beeped, and disconnected the drive.

I walked to the door with the stair sign, checked then entered. Directly above me was a camera, to my right was a voice locked door with a bullet proof window in the center. Above the door said 'computer mainframe'; I contacted Grim in help "You fixed up those voices yet?"

Jennifer came online_ "Um… yeah, I've loaded them to your OPSAT."_

"Thanks,"

The OPSAT beeped twice and I pressed 'receive file', then walked to the door and put the OPSAT's speaker to the lock; when I copied the files, a few names came up that showed who had clearance for certain areas, and Grim is clever enough to make entire sentences out one word, for instance a name.

I pressed 'sound' then the voice came out _"Kori Heshan." _The door unlocked and I thanked Grim. The staircase proceeded down to another door, a large metal one with a keypad lock. I switched on my tactical-light and examined the keys closely; the keys used would be reasonably clean, whilst the unused keys would most likely contain a layer of dust. Key seven, six, three and two had the heaviest layer of dust, whilst eight, four, one and nine where reasonably clean. I typed the numbers into the OPSAT and chose 'possible combinations' then sent a copy to Grim. A tone of combinations popped up "Damn," I said.

"_Damn," _Grim added.

"How many attempts will be allowed before an alarm is sounded?" I asked.

"_Three…"_

"Damn. Do you know how many digits are needed to create a code?"

"_Hold on I know where you're going… five, on the dot. That lowers our possibilities, but it's still not good enough, I'm going to try hacking each of the men on the list personal records, it might contain some form of code or clue."_

"How many men are on the list?"

"_Five."_

"Brunton, I've got a job for you, find out any information on the men on the list; addresses, dates, birthdays, anything with a digit of five."

"_I'm on it."_

"Grim, can you find out who set the code?"

"_Sure, I'll try." _Ten minutes passed, I killed time exploring a little bit more around the embassy, setting up numerous sticky cameras in tactical spots of the foyer and other areas. I returned to the door just in time for the guys to contact me _"Got it! James rounded up some birthdates and joined them with my info I received."_

"And…"

"_The man who made the door code is named 'Yorik Masu', he had a daughter whose birth date is the fourteenth of the ninth, eighty-eight."_

"See, I knew you bugged me for a good reason." I type the keys in correct order and was about to enter when Grim startled me _"Wait! As soon as the doors open the power comes on in the room, you'll need to bolt to the opposite side of the room to avoid detection, there are two cameras in there, ones at the door, another at the archive; bolt pass the first and I'll deal with the second."_

"Ok. I'm going!" I opened the door and machinery started up, then sounds of a generator started. I bolted passed numerous machinery and computers before hurdling a few steam pipes, the lights behind me flicked on following my footsteps _"Quick!" _I wasn't going to make it; I scanned ahead and brewed an idea. I leaped into the air grabbing some conduits in my arms then tied my legs around them. The whole room was now lit up brightly, the humming of computers was loud and the buzzing of the camera scanning the floor below me. I swung my body around and squeezed between the pipes and the ceiling then shuffled along until I was directly below the archive's computer, "Grim, think you can shut off that camera now?"

"_Sure, tell me when. You'll have forty seconds, that'll be plenty of time to retrieve the files." _

"Now!"

"_Go!" _I rolled out and landed beside the computer network. I scanned around for the drive port entrance and dislodged the cover, then inserted the upload cord from my OPSAT into the computers port. The OPSAT flashed as it received the files and reported the percentage of the uploading. It reached one-hundred percent and the said done; I snatched the cord away, placed the cover back then moved on. Twenty seconds left before the second camera would be online. My OCP was still recharging, the only downside.

"Think you can try the other camera now?"

"_Yeah… ok move!" _ Bolted to the door and ran inside closing it quietly. The lights died and the room went dark.

Lambert spoke up as I entered back into the foyer _"Good work, we've got men working on decrypting the files as we speak, wont be long now on whether to worry or not."_

"Moving on to give Otomo nightmares."

"_Good, if he's a liability, take him out, we need to end this now. No mistakes."_

"Roger."

I continued up the right side spiraling staircase and along a corridor to another, smaller staircase, which led to another hallway passing several more sets of lasers and cameras. The hallway turned right to a series of doors; the blueprints read that Otomo's room was three doors ahead on the right I walked along and did a flexi-cam scan under the suggested door. The room was dark and quiet, in the corner next to a balcony door was an occupied bed. Otomo. I tried the door, locked, then wriggled the camera around to face the top of the door, there was an alarm that was similar to the one at the previous window; I moved the camera to the side and saw a keypad. On my side of the door was also a keypad. I though then looked down the hallway, checked the other room and found one without an alarm. I entered the approached the balcony and picked the locks, surprised that there was no alarm, exited and felt the nice cold breeze hit my face; below me was an alley that ran belong side the building that was fitted with more alarm systems than the building itself; on the opposite side of the wall led down to a small river that was usually patrolled by men with guard dogs, and, more cameras; the reason why I infiltrated where I did. Behind the embassy is their private trucking and storage yard, where most of there guards are located, again scrubbing infiltration.

Otomo's room was two balconies away; I mantled the railing and swayed for my rhythm then leapt snagging the cement railing in my arms, crossed the small balcony and did the same.

Otomo's room was still silent, I approached the door and Grim temporarily disable the alarm, I picked the locks, entered then approached the bed. Horishi was sleeping there, rolled on his side snoring slightly; I checked his bedside dresser and took out his personal sidearm revolver and chucked it on the couch, then checked the footage of the sticky-cams in the foyer through the OPSAT for company, none. In the drawers was a portfolio, I scanned through it and noticed something interesting, _'Trojan horse, Lanzhou.' _I filed it in my pocket and contacted Irving.

"Lambert, ready?"

"_Damn right I am!"_

I walked to his dresser and pulled out my pistol, tapped a few times on the drawers then stepped aside. Otomo groaned and sat up curious, he noticed the curtains swaying from the balcony doors being opened; he jumped up and searched through his bedside dresser. He stopped and panicked then searched the other draws. I walked out of the darkness and approached him from behind, grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him to face me, then punched him in his now-broken nose. He moaned in pain as he covered his nose, grabbing him by the collar I chucked him against the wall and held him against it, pushing the pistol firm against his forehead. I slid him up the wall until his feet left the ground; his cowardly face starred at me in fear.

"Who the…" he said.

"Shut up," I say "for your sake. You're a wanted man Otomo, and I was lucky enough to receive the privilege of bringing you down."

"Who are you?"

"I ask the questions, you answer them! You ordered the death of two American reporters, two civilians, that's a good enough reason to kill you, cause trust me; I wouldn't hesitate to pop a bullet through that hollow head of yours right now where we stand!"

"Go on! Do it! I'm not going to tell you anything!"

"Oh, I've had that said many times, never works. What was on that footage that gives you a reason to murder?"

"I said I'll tell you nothing!" I didn't blink, just put the pistol to his right shoulder and fired _pfft! _He yelped and squeezed his eyes shut to divert attention away from the pain.

"Answer my question!"

"Some form of chemical," he choked "I'm not one-hundred percent sure. It helps with weaponry or something… ah!"

"You don't sound very sure…"

"I'm not, I'm not in charge!"

"Now we're getting somewhere, if you're not than who is?" he looked at me and stopped struggling to free my grip. He eyes hesitated and flickered and I got impatient "Who's giving you…" Grim's panicked voice pierced in my ear _"Sam we've got movement in the building's foyer!" _my neck hairs stood straight as the courtyard snapped to life with lights; the hallway was pounded with footsteps and my heart stopped as numerous alarms sounded. The door flew inwards; I grabbed Otomo by the color and spun him to my front as a human shield. A few heavily armed men dashed in and acted swiftly; Otomo's body jerked as the room was barraged in fire. I felt three thumps on my tac-suit, two hurt, and the last caned! I dropped the body and charged for the window; the men's reactions were slow, for the room was dark, and they were mostly taking heavy pot-shots. The window shattered as I crunched my body up; the fall was large and taking forever to descend. I positioned my legs to catch the fall, though the height was too tall, three stories. My legs turned to jelly as I slammed into the ground, my chest burst into pain from where I presumed the bullet pierced the suit. I rolled trying to gain momentum stumbling as I got back up; a guard burst out from the building and let a fusion of pistol shots off at my highly visible, presumably freaky figure. Another guard popped out from behind me and let a burst of rounds off also; I zigzagged over bushes and past the fountain hoping to give a hard target. The balcony was too high up and would give enough time to brew a perfect shot, rubbing that from my options. The guard by the entrance was still firing rapidly at my dashing figure, huh. I charged toward him and shoved him aside to the ground, I kicked in the door as half a dozen bullets whizzed passed my head and ripped up the wall inside. Ahead was a bullet proof, see-through door with three guards charging towards it; I pulled out the 5-7 and let four shots rip at the door hoping to gain some time, the guards dropped to the floor and jumped to the side as the window cracked from the impact.

I jumped into an office door and weaved in and out of numerous rooms. Guards were on my tail and the door was locked, I shot the lock apart then barged in to an awaiting guard; he let off the first round skimming my right leg, before I got the better shot off coughing him one in the chest, he fell to the ground knocking off numerous office appliances. I charged to the right and ran through a door into a corridor; the door opened up into the main entrance foyer to the embassy, there was a wall of soldiers aiming down the corridor. I jumped in my skin as I dived through the opposite door before a sudden explosion of shots was let off. The room was a dead end, and I was sure that I was doomed. I pulled out a flash-bang and opened up the door lobbing it into the center of the foyer. A high piercing bang sounded as the foyer was en-gulfed in a sudden burst of blinding light. Moans sounded and I chucked a smoke as well, made sure it was working then charged into the foyer with IR. A dozen men covered theirs eyes and rolled on the floor; a single pistol shot skimmed the back of my neck cutting the suit. I smashed through the embassy doors into an awaiting military truck and men. The gates were closed and the wall was too high to scale, and I was about to eat led. I pulled out the SC-20 and let a round of shots into the truck hoping to cause them to take cover, they did. I charged for the truck as more bullets from the foyer guards zoomed past my head. I scaled the bonnet of the truck and jumped onto the roof bolting towards the gate. I fired a single shot into an un-expected soldier before leaping for my life to a crash landing on the tarred road outside the embassy. I got back up and yells sounded from the embassy "Get that gate open!"

Two more military trucks sped around a corner a few hundred meters ahead; I jumped to the side into the shadows, turned left down the street and barged into the café as the guards ran around the corner. I ran down the alley and saw Brunton standing beside the van waving me in, I bolted towards the van and my heart started to beat once more.

I was thirty meters away before my face turned pale; the windows shattered as the alley was engulfed in a large fireball. The shockwave blew me off my feet and pushed me back a few meters. A tremendous bang echoed through my head and across the city. Large chunks of metal shot over my head and imbedded into nearby walls.

I sat up to see a small crater in the pavement of where the van used to be and hundreds of cars pieces littering the alley; the slight crackle and glow of the fire stopped my heart again.

I sat there in horror for a moment in unbelief that this just happened, a moment that felt like hours. My blood boiled again just like when Sarah died, I promised this wouldn't happen again, but it did…

I jumped up and ran my hands through my hair cursing myself continuously, and then sprinted to the wreckage, shifting doors and wheels to one side. The cockpit was occupied, two bodies charcoaled from head to toe. I searched around for James and found him lying under a chunk of engine. Half his face and body was bloody and burnt as he struggled to stay awake. I bent down and gently lifted his head "Stay with me, you're going to be alright!" I yelled. He starred at me before letting out two bloody chokes. "Brunton!" I snatched him up and ran to a parked car, smashed the window, put Brunton in the back then hotwired the car and sped off. A dozen emergency vehicles flew by towards the embassy.

I tapped the sub-dermal and contacted Lambert "Lambert! I'm on my way! Get an emergency team ready now! We've got a problem, half the Chinese army just showed up at the embassy, I don't think I let them off. It's a setup!" I sped around a corner and flew down the main street.

"_Damn, you're not the only one with problems. The Chinese…" _the reception hissed and Lambert went off line "Lambert?! Lambert?! Damn!" Brunton choked and a gasped for air. I slammed on the brakes and jumped in the back "Come on!" I yelled signaling James to keep eye contact "Stay with me!" I pulled out a syringe of morphine and jabbed it into him then grasped his hand. His breathing lessened as he let out a slight gurgle of words. Tears drowned his eyes before he could finish his sentence. The grip weakened before his hand let go.

"I'm sorry…" I whispered "sorry." I closed his eyes than ran my fingers through my hair and took a long deep breathe. "Damn!" I muttered; then took off towards the American embassy.

* * *

12:50 hours

Over the residential buildings, the glow of fire through smoke smothered the air; I drove down numerous streets toward the embassy before an urgent message came through the OPSAT:

'**Big problems, head to safe house, we'll be waiting. Explain more on the way. **

**Grim,'**

I span the wheel sharp right and drove down an alley towards the safe house; I noticed the roads out of town were blocked by Chinese military and the streets were littered in National Guard.

I pulled up a block away from the safe house and walked the remainder on foot, making sure I wasn't followed. I ran in with Brunton in my arms the walked in to Grim and a few men; they were racing around packing up files and computers, I was confused but I had a general idea of what was happening. "Grim?" I said. She looked back and saw Brunton in my arms, her face went white "Oh no…" she ran over and I shook my head. She burst into tears and sat down on the lounge. "Jennifer?" I asked "Where's Lambert? What happened?" she got up and turned away from me and wiped the tears from her eyes. "His fine; the Chinese just declared war on the U.S, they hit the embassy killing fifteen men, Lambert and a few others were able to get away, we're meeting them out of town at a rally point. Some one spoke."

"Damn," I said placing James on the couch.

"How'd it happen?" I looked up at her and replied "The van was hit, exploded right in my face."

"I'm sorry,"

"If they new about the van, they probably know we're here, we've got to move!" I said hoping to divert her attention. I grabbed my 5-7 and tossed it to Grim, she looked up and nodded. "Your own safety," I picked Brunton back up and we all went down stairs to the garage; inside there were two cars, a white Ford Laser, and an old blue Toyota Camry. Grim jumped in the Laser with three of the men, one was William Redding, and I put Brunton in with Grim then jumped in with one guy into the Camry. We memorized the rally point and headed towards them going separate directions. We took a dirt road out of town to avoid the roadblocks then headed along a small road in the outskirts of town. The Camry cruised along a sixty mile an hour and the destination was getting closer. Ahead were numerous lights of military trucks heading for town, I lowered the speed and acted innocent; the trucks got closer and I merged further to the side as they were coming with pace.

The trucks light were focused on the Camry, I shifted right even more almost hitting the gravel, but the truck was still heading for us. The trucks was too fast to avoid, "Brace yourself!" I yelled. I banked left smoking the tire but the truck still collided. The force felt like it broke my neck and my face was nearly torn to shreds from the shattered glass. The Camry crumpled like a tin can as the headlights of the truck shown right in my face. The car flew into the air spinning multiple times before landing upside down with a crumpling blow. The car slid to a stop with sparks; I sat there upside down half conscious, blood dripping off my nose. I didn't even need to check if the other guy was alright; hitting his door at that force would have crushed him instantly. I suddenly noticed that was no accident, I unclipped the seat belt and dropped to the roof, then squeezed out the now 'miniature' window. Two trucks screamed to a stop and soldiers jumped out of the back than bolted towards the car. I unclipped a grenade and tossed it inside then apologized to the man inside. I crawled a good enough distance away into the forest and watched the remainder of the car shrapnel to pieces. The men were blown off there feet to the ground in shock, rubbing there heads. They argued whether to search the bushes, and then finally agreed to; three men walked towards me with automatic weapons held firm. I crawled to the closest truck and scanned with IR to confirm that it was empty. I waited until I had a clear shot than bolted to the cockpit and jumped in. A moment passed when no one saw me enter until I put it in reverse and took off. The soldiers yelled in Chinese then pointed, I stuck my head down and flattened the accelerator. The windows were littered in perfect holes before it shattered to the floor. Numerous _'tings' _came from the bonnet, one piercing through just missing my foot. Pulling the SC-20 of my back and pointing it out the window with one arm, I let off a dozen bullets causing the soldiers to dive for cover, while the shots weren't aiming for a particular target one soldier's leg snapped beneath him and he fell to the ground in tears. A soldier ran for the other truck then jumped in signaling another too as well. I inserted a grenade into the launcher and aimed at the truck then fired; the truck burst into flames and charcoal as it fireballed up into the sky knocking men off their feet. I spun around and took off down the road towards the rally point in unbelief of what just happened, wiping the pouring blood from my torn up face.

"Lambert, if you can hear me, we have a problem…"

I had to get rid of the truck; half of China's army will come waltzing down that road any minute now. I found a dirt track that seemed hardly used and I traveled down it. The overgrown scrub slashed up against the truck, flicking through the broken windscreen. I killed the lights and flicked on night vision until I found a suitable spot to park. I jumped out and checked the direction of the rally point; checked my wounds and wiped them clean with a cleansing cloth. The bullet entered then exited through my lower right belly, the pain was strong but I could cope.

I ran through the jungle toward the destination, stopping every now and then to cross a road. A strong static hiss came through the sub-dermal _"Sa… Sam… get… Oto… don't…" _ I pressed the sub-dermal but the message got worse "Lambert? Lambert, come in. I can't hear you! Say again!" the message just went to complete static. "Damn!" thinking of the possibilities, I cleared my head free and continued to the rally point, hoping my thoughts were wrong.

* * *

The flat clearing a couple of 'k's into the bush was deadly silent, an IR reading revealed nothing except for a few minuet bullet shells scattered over the ground. I walked into the clearing where I met three dead bodies, one Chinese; the other two, agents. The bodies were slightly warm, only enough to read with IR when up close. I examined the car ruts in the mud and figured all up that there were four vehicles; two looked like truck ruts; the other two, cars. The two bodies where laying by a car a few meters away, half out the exit, with the windows smashed, doors opened and a few bullet holes in the side. It was the Ford Laser Grim was in. Damn. I searched the car for anything useful, and found nothing except for Jennifer's computer shoved under the seat. I sat down in the front seat and opened it up; a satellite GPS tracker was showing on the screen, in the middle was a flashing blip leading out of town "Jennifer, you beauty!" I typed in a six digit code _3-3-8-4-1-6, _then unclipped a chip from the hard-drive and inserted it into my OPSAT; the screen flashed and numerous loading screens flicked on, before a detailed GPS came online with the same blip moving further and further away.

I closed the doors then smashed the rear brake lights before checking the seats for the keys; the engine coughed to life, I killed the lights and navigated through the forest tracks with NV, making my way closer to the blip.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Three miles north-west of Zhangzhou, China

01:40 hundred hours 20th July

The blip stopped off an old road a couple of miles north-west of Zhangzhou; I coasted up the road occasionally attempting to make contact, none. A dirt track merged off the road and into the forest, I followed it for a few hundred meters before just ahead was an overgrown log hut lying cozily in the middle of nowhere. Parking the Laser on the side of the road, I got out and walked the rest of the way; the windows where covered in blackout boards, though the slight crack of light peered through the logs. No cars were in sight, though shadows would occasionally pass through the hut. I crawled up to the hut and put my ear to the window, muffled voices I could hear, though not enough for me to make out.

Two quick knocks was all it took; the door crept open, I waited a second then walked in. Lambert stood at a desk with another agent examining a map of the area, Grimsdottir was sitting on a couch with her head between her knees and William Redding was staring blankly into his laptop with deep concentration.

Michael Thompson, another Splinter Cell agent that I once worked along side with on numerous occasions was guarding the door with his MP5,

"Stand down," I said,

"Sam!" he lowered the gun and closed the door.

"Michael." As soon as he motioned my name Irving spun round

"Sir,"

"Sam," he said jumping forward shaking my hand. "I heard about James…"

I looked at Grim "Yeah. What's going on?"

Irving ran his fingers through the hair that remained on his head "Not good, as of one hour ago the U.S and the Chinese took the first step to the brink of war."

"Damn!"

"You're telling me? We got word that the Chinese are massing troops all over the place, ten warships and three aircraft carriers just left Shanghai and are on route for Taiwan. The President has just ordered that the 56th, 69th and 87th mountain division to be on route to Northern Burma; also five air divisions are on red alert standby. Several carriers and warships are lining up just out of the Chinese territorial waters, ready for their orders. We're letting the Chinese make the first move, for now, its not war, but damn close to it! The attack on the Embassy left thirteen American citizens dead; we got out just in time."

"What of Long Dan?"

"Don't know, don't think he made it. It was hell in there."

"Are you guys alright?" I asked stepping forward toward Grim.

"Shaken but fine, you?" Lambert asked.

I remembered I'd been shot and the pain burst back "Could be better, it was hell in there, half the Chinese military rocked up!" Grim jumped up and grabbed the medical-kit.

"And I know where the other half was," Grim sat me down and I stripped the tac-suite's top off. "What of the footage?" Grim started prodding at the wound with a medical cloth, cleaning the wound from infection.

"A substance, not sure of its purpose. On the footage was a large amount of ballistic missiles, we presume that the substance twines for their use." Grim slapped my arm signaling me to lift them; she started rapping a bandage around my stomach.

"You want me to find out what it does?"

"Precisely, but we don't know where to start."

"Northern Pakistan, that's the Origin of the footage isn't it?"

"Yes, but we've already looked there, it was abandoned, empty, nothing left behind." Jennifer pinned the end up and checked my other wounds,

"I'm fine, thanks." I said slipping a shirt over me. "I might have some leads," I pulled out the files and pointed at the words "Trojan Horse and Lanzhou, saw these words twice already, looked important, sound familiar?"

Grim got up and looked at the files "I got nothing," Lambert shook his head. "No… beats me," he said before William got up and answered "Trojan Horse, no idea, Lanzhou… a city, here in China. I'll do some looking up on the Trojan Horse, see what I can find." I gave William a look to get to it.

"I'll stay here in China, do some scouting."

"Suit yourself," Lambert said. "First let's get some sleep."

Michael went outside on first guard, William and Lambert took some shut eye, while Grim and I sat up and talked. She was still pale, and shaken; Brunton's death revealed a part of Grim I didn't know.

"Want a drink?" I offered. She shook her head and softly denied.

"How did he die?" she asked.

I took a seat beside her and took a breath "The van he was in exploded, in my face," I gained my sanity "I took him with me, and held him as he died. Most likely it was painless, he basically died straight away." I lied, but telling her his death was long and painful wouldn't go down well. "You alright?" I asked. She wiped the tears from under her eyes "Yeah, it's just… it all happened so quickly." _You're telling me!_

"Get some rest," I said.

I got up and walked to the table where my 5-7 laid. I picked it up and noticed the clip was empty. Grim burst into tears.

"Brunton's not the only thing bothering you, is it?" she shook her head and I sat back down. "What happened?"

She breathed in and sighed "When we got to the rally point, we thought all was going to be alright, then two trucks came; they opened fire, and… it was so loud!" she cried some more,

"Go on," I said.

"When my guard was hit, I was afraid, I got in the car and closed my eyes, then a soldier came to my car and saw me, I… I… fired and killed him!"

"You were defending yourself; don't be so hard on yourself,"

"I'm trying; it's just that I hate the person who killed Brunton so much, it hurts me to feel, someone feels the same way about me." I hugged her in comfort, "I know…" We sat there for a few minutes as she settled down, before she fell asleep. I put my head back and closed my eyes, before I slowly dropped off.

* * *

04:10 hundred hours

Outside was still dark, and our best opportunity of moving undetected; William was busy packing the rest of the gear, whilst Thompson and the other agent packed it into sedan parked out front. Jennifer still laid asleep spread out on the lounge holding the blanket tight to her neck. I helped packed the rest of the gear, and then grabbed my duffle bag from the pile.

The distant hum of jets and helicopters pierced the early morning frost, along with the constant chirp of tree frogs in the near by marsh. The fresh cold air hit my face as I walked out side. I walked around the hut to Lambert over looking a marsh holding his own OPSAT in his hands.

I walked closer and stood beside him "Morning," I murmured. He briefly looked back and nodded a reply toward me.

"You guy's gonna be alright?" I asked.

He pocketed the OPSAT "Yeah, Bird just replied to a pick up call; the CIA has arranged a secret ex-filtration point to get any Government personnel out of the country safely. Bird's picking us up. What are you gonna do?"

"Do some scouting, see what I can find on the substance."

"Oh and William found out about the Trojan Horse, it's come up recently and quite often, it has something to do with a small weapon smuggling operation out of China, wasn't our top priority until now. They have a small warehouse in Lanzhou we want you to check out. Get some leads on their intentions of the substance and those missiles. Sam, millions of lives and the future peace between the U.S and Chinese is relying on what you dig up."

"Sure,"

"To think it would come to this; we need to figure all this out before either Government loses their patience." We stood there soaking up the atmosphere; I often thought about Brunton, then William, and hoped he wouldn't be necessary.

"What do you think about William?" he thought for a moment than answered

"I think he'll be a good asset to the team, you?"

"I was thinking more of a pain, and I would have dropped the 'et'."

"I'm sorry but…" William yelled out and told us to come quickly. We ran over to William sitting on the seat with the laptop on his lap. "What?!" I yelled.

He spun the screen around and said "We knew the Chinese president had no real intentions on going to war, but he still presumably gave the order. What if he didn't?" he clicked a key and an image popped up with numerous attention headings, the image was of the president walking down into his Limo. "What does it say?" Lambert asked.

"The president has stepped down from ruler ship," I said amazed of the situation.

"Only one person could have known of the whole operation, and one person had full input on the proceedings, AKA – Brunton's death." I looked at Lambert as we held our breath. Redding tapped another key and a different image appeared, this time… Vice President Long Dan.

"My god! To think we were conned from the very start." Lambert said snapping upright.

"Permission to leave for Lanzhou sir?" I asked.

"Granted, lets move!" Lambert ordered. They packed up the car without passing a word. Grim was about to enter the car before I stopped her "Are you going to be alright?" she nodded lightly and replied "Yes, thank you Sam, for understanding." I patted her once on the back and walked to Thompson "Hey, when this is over, we'll have to catch up," he replied nervously and looked at the car "What's wrong?" I said curious.

"Nothing, nothings wrong. Yeah that sounds great." I nodded and jogged towards my bag before he

spoke up once more "Sam, stay safe…"

"You to."

* * *

I made sure nothing was left in the hut, then got dressed and took the old 1986 Chevrolet utility truck they left for me and drove north-east to Changde, a small city where I was able to camp for the day then move on the next night. I traveled towards Lanzhou passing numerous military checkpoints and towns for the next two days until I reached Hanzhong, a small city with a population under fifty-thousand.

20:45 hours

22nd July

With Long Dan now as immediate President, I was walking thin ice; any capture of any form would most likely result fatal. The OPSAT showed the rapid decline of peace to defcon-1 meaning the U.S and China are basically a hairs breadth away from war. My finding of this secretive substance might shed some light on hopeful support from neighboring nations if any form of national threat arose. Our worst fear was that if any form of lethal action was taking China would have the full support of the North Korean government due to the recent trades between the two nations and the 4th Peace Alliance treaty signed.

I camped in the Chevy a couple of kilometers out of town and messaged Lambert through the OPSAT-

'**Still en route, time estimated till destination arrival: 6-8 hours depending on military presence. Next contact at 24:00 hundred hours (01:00 hundred hours U.S time)'**

I packed up then continued to drive along the main road a couple of 'k's out of Hanzhong and waited for Lamberts reply. The road was dead silent as I just cruised along at sixty-five m/ph swerving to dodge the rather large pot holes on the rugged road. The Chevy kept up it revs and chewed up the fuel, driving it felt as heavy as the military truck a Xiamen as I growled along the road; not exactly the best car to avoid attention yet, it was a car… well truck.

The OPSAT vibrated and blinked once, I killed the lights and merged onto the side of the road skimming over the gravel and dense grass. I waited and checked the revision mirrors for presence then opened up the message once I was sure I was alone. I typed in the pass code to access the message and the OPSAT screen flashed to life:

'**Position located, change of plan; coordinates are be uploaded to PDA; ISFU and ESPEC-Ops on route, TTA-10 minutes. Briefing will be available at meet point.**

**Stay safe, stay sharp. Colonel I. Lambert.'**

I closed the window and opened up the coordinates

'**POA- two clicks, 68 degrees North-West, of your position. Call sign-Peter Vesper. Warehouse west of docks. Three nocks then call sign.'**

The ESPEC-Ops are Elite Special Engagement Corp of Operations sent on high priority missions into hot areas over seas, trained as Navy Seals and almost equivalent level of training as a Splinter Cell operative; their skill is immense. They could hit a bottle cap over distances of two 'k's; there swift, precise and never fail, there ghosts and basically a pack of Splinter Cells, trained to zip in, eliminate the objective and zip out.

Whilst the ISFU is the U.S International Special Forces Unit sent on also delicate missions to use deadly force to complete operations; mostly brought as back up if things get loud, they also execute swift ex-filtrations and rescues if things get hot.

I guessed that if they sent in the ISFU and Ops things must be getting tense; I parked the car by the bushes and grabbed the duffle from the back and got dressed into a dark slick outfit that covered up to the neck; the suit was then broken up with the vest that went over top and the additional pockets across the chest; Third Echelon did research and discovered that when the outline is broken up and chunky, the figure is difficult to make out.

I holstered the SC-20 and inserted a clip of ammo into the 5-7 and holstered it also before slipping the trident goggles over my head and switched to NV before taking off into the tree line.

* * *

21:35 hundred hours

The district was quiet and calm and the night sky was crystal and fresh with the moon gleaming down onto the still lake water that brushed up against the wooden dock pylons. Specks of light bounced across the lake of the raging nightlife that struck the city.

The warehouse was located in a compound that accessed the docks and was probably used for storing the daily shipments that traveled down lake to the Yellow Sea. The warehouse was surrounded by numerous other warehouses; some of which were opened revealing small fishing vessels camping for the night and some that looked as though for a lifetime.

I exited onto a bank where the warehouse was visible some sixty meters away making my way along until I found an appropriate spot to cross. Stepping down the bank and into the water I waded into the ice cold lake strapping the duffle bag to my back then diving forward to gain momentum. I reached a dock and weaved in between the pylons to the cement wall that rose out of the water a meter or so. Pushing off the pylon I snagged the edge of the cement wall and hulled myself up into a crouch, checked the appropriate warehouse and walked over and around the side to a rear door; I knocked three times then said "Peter Vesper,"

The door cranked then swung open to an American Major chewing furiously on his gum holding his K-59 assault rifle ready. I stripped the goggles and gave a nod in recognition.

"This way sir," he said beckoning his hand into the warehouse. He led me in to a large table flooded with lights; the room was occupied with fifteen or more men, the ISFU and ESPEC examining a map spread across the table.

The room was quiet as they stood around holding there weapons at the hip, ranging from MP5's to SPAZ-12's to L-37-BRUTES. Decked out in black clothing and topped with caps and beanies and their faces covered in black charcoal. I walked over to the table where an ESPEC Colonel stood, arm extended for a greeting.

"Colonel…?" I said grasping his hand.

"Brookes, Colonel Brookes. Welcome." Replied the Colonel; his appearance was dark, tanned and tall, I guessed him for his mid-thirties, though appearances were deceiving due to his decked out costume.

"Fisher, Sam Fisher." I said. He released the grip on my hand and pointed toward another soldier, a dark African-American Lieutenant normal in height and yet buff enough to be on the front cover of a body builders magazine. "Fisher, this is Lieutenant Michaels." I shook his firm hand and gave an acknowledgment.

"Lieutenant, sorry, I haven't been briefed on the situation…?"

He walked back to the table and spun round a laptop "It's okay, Colonel Lambert is on the line now." He pressed a few keys the stepped back, giving me room to enter the view onscreen. "Lambert?" I said as Irving appeared on screen.

"Fisher," he started "Glad you made it safely,"

"Thanks."

"Sorry about the sudden change of plans, an agreement has been made that the ESPEC-Ops would join you on your mission to Lanzhou, and if necessary complete the primary objective if things got hot."

"Cool, the thought of my ex-Seal days are coming back." I said with a grin.

"Sorry Sam, I know you like to work alone…"

"Which I do… but I can make an exception."

"Good," he lent back in his chair onscreen. "Redding's cooking up some blueprints on the area and the warehouse as we speak, he'll send them to you ASAP."

I clenched my jaw and didn't respond.

"I suggest you get moving, we haven't any time to waste; Bird's got the Osprey nesting for your arrival at these coordinates," immediately my OPSAT vibrated on my wrist and flashed once.

"Thanks,"

"I'll make contact once you all reach the Osprey, Lambert out." The screen died and the men immediately started moving.

The Colonel stepped forward and handed me back my weapons and goggles before barking out his orders "Okay lets move!" the men shouldered their guns and packed up the table lugging the gear to the nearby door. The Colonel nodded to one of his men; the soldier, without hesitation creaked the door open and passed through cautiously before signaling the rest to follow.

We swiftly passed through the docks with procedures of accuracy and stealth. We crossed the river and entered into the forest in which I had come, traveling the rugged terrain for another two clicks in the direction of the coordinates provided on the OPSAT. Three hundred meters away, through the cracks of the woodland, sat the Osprey cramped in the tight confines of the cleared landing zone. I paused the group and pressed my sub-dermal "Bird, this is Fisher, approaching your 'six'."

"_Clear to move up Fisher, starting engines." _He replied. We pressed forward quickly to the clearing as a low hum and a series of high pitched squeals grew strong as the propellers began rotating and moving into vertical position. The rear cargo bay door opened and each man entered with their heads low.

I entered to be met by Bird with his hand of assistance out towards me; I chucked him my duffle bag which he shoved into one of the holds and ran to the cockpit Anna sitting at the console, "Get us moving,"

The engines rumbled and the cockpit doors closed behind us, as the earth descended beneath us; they took their seats before I walked to the front cockpit. "Let's move,"

"To Lanzhou!" he growled steering the Osprey out of the clearing.

The distant glitter of lights shown through the windshield, a truly beautiful sight, purring through the air makes one lose track of time, lose consciousness and all awareness of the outside world.

* * *

The men sat and slept for a long period of the trip, Colonel Brookes stayed up and starred blankly out the window, his expressions were limited, an acknowledgement from him was known as rare, it was most likely his way of psyching himself up for upcoming missions. I was use to long deep sleeps; they are my version of psyching myself up, I can usually sleep anywhere, as comfort isn't a necessity, give me a horizontal cement slab and I'll sleep like a log, it's been like that since I was a kid.

Lieutenant Michaels sat there fiddling with the cog on his gun; his expressions were strong and serious, though calm and worried, his thoughts wondered the deck, his eyes scanning the windows. His movement showed a sign of fear and nervousness, a symptom I once knew all to well…

I stepped over and sat beside him, "Not a fan of flying huh?" I said interlocking my fingers on my knees

He seemed startled, "Huh?"

"Any one would think that flying would be a necessity in your line of work?"

"What?! I'm fine…" he said sitting up cocking his gun.

I didn't reply, I just sat there with a smile on my face starring out the window.

"Is it that noticeable?" he said breaking the silence.

I gave a chuckle, and lent back in my seat "Ah, yeah..."

"Sorry sir I…"

"Don't worry, its natural. No matter how long you've been doing something, everyone is scared. Well damn, it's your right."

"Sir?"

"Most people think that and old veteran like me, would die before getting scared. But unfortunately that's not entirely true…" I sat forward and shook my head with a chuckle,"Damn, it scares me when I realize just how long I've been at this. I've been on the frontlines for over twenty years, and usually that's a long enough time to get used to something. And in that time I've seen some damn horrible stuff that even scares me, stuff that makes you realize just how bloody twisted some people are. Every time I set foot in some war torn country, or hotspot for weapons smuggling in the middle-east, I'm terrified. It freaks me out, but that can lead to hesitation, something I don't need."

"How do you cope?"

"I hide my fear deep within me, and it's not just the danger but realizing exactly what I sometimes have to do; pulling the trigger on my first victim haunted me, I don't like killing, hell I hate it! When I killed my first victim… I, I made a quick decision, hell it wasn't even a decision, I just reacted! He screamed in pain. I wanted to shoot myself. He wasn't even alarmed, he thought I was another guy and was actually about to offer me cigarettes before I shot him. But I had to leave that behind me, I try not to look at the face of the life I just took but get on with it. I focus my attention on my objectives, get them done. When I'm back to safety then I piss my pants…" I said trying to leave that rather depressing subject.

Michaels laughed and sighed, "Thanks sir, I now know I'm not alone…"

"I said you're not alone when it comes to killing, not flying… there, you're on you own." He laughed once more and stood up and walked to the bunks.

I walked back to the cockpit and asked Bird how far off we were, then contacted Lambert before I zipped up.

"Lambert, we're getting close to our destination, anything you want to tell me?" I asked leaning over Bird's shoulder.

"No, though I'm sorry to say this but communications are going to have to be kept to a minimal, we have word that those gorillas down there have got some hot stuff, we can't risk being found out. It's most likely gonna get hot and messy, these guys are trained and _will_ die for there country if they have too." Be careful Sam. I mean it."

"Thank you sir."

"Well, good luck, and good hunting."

"Will do."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

16:52 hundred hours

Politics, if there was one subject to send him over the edge, it was politics. It always did and always will send Lambert into a tizz. Though the man didn't accept the fact that he was a hypocrite on the matter. Being the man to sort out the paper work and say what needs to be said was his job, he was in fact representing Third Echelon from a political view, admitting only a handful of people know about the agency, it's still politics is it not? No to Lambert politics involved sitting in conference halls shouting at the top of your voice on why the government should pull the troops out of Iraq, only to be yelled over by a bunch of other men wearing fluffy hats. That's one of the things the man loves about his job, Third Echelon is an off the radar agency, in other words no 'red tape'. The only time red tape came in was when a Splinter Cell was compromised or killed, meaning all existence of them is erased; bank accounts, passports, licences, credentials. If captured, all communications are terminated, and it is then up to the agent, to escape and hide from the world, or follow his standing order of suicide. Though this was different with Lambert, he covered the mistake and never left a man behind. If it weren't for Lambert I'd be locked in a cold Georgian prison, fending for myself. Off the record missions have been where I've had to rescue a fellow Splinter Cell. Though with recent international affairs, and officials breathing down Irving's back, choices are harder if not impossible to make without consequences. This is when I felt sorry for the man. A hell of a job. This time I might not get it easy.

My orders were to retrieve the substance and leave. Explaining how the newly anointed President of China was assassinated in the safety of his own country was something that wouldn't go down easy. And with recent relations between China and the US, it wouldn't take much to bind the ties together.

Dan walked slowly step by step towards Bennett, gun in hand, starring gleefully into his eyes. I crawled along the balcony and stopped parallel to the crates, slid under the railings and dropped behind the cover of piping.

"Lambert, permission to use Fifth Freedom."

"_Denied, we don't have the authority. I don't have the authority, and the repercussions would be out of control."_

"Sir, his is about to execute an American citizen, isn't that enough reason?!"

"_I'm sorry but for now we need him alive. Get me viable evidence and I'll see what strings I can pull." _

I ran my fingers through my hair then got my bearings. I crawled along to the rail where the crates sat then rose up to the lid. The lid was locked; I unsheathed my knife and went to work on the lid, a second later the lid slid off. I pulled it towards me and placed it on the ground.

"Who are you? And what are you doing?" Dan said placing the gun to Bennett's temple. _Crap_.

The crate was long, about one and a half meters, and the insides were covered in foam pieces, I shoved the foam to one side and pulled off a blanket which covered the contents of the crate. Just what I thought. A missile. These crates are the missiles we'd been looking for. One Mark-9 Viper. I took a snap shot and sent the image through to Lambert. "Happy birthday."

"Tell me or one of your men dies?!" damn. I was running out of time. Now the substance. I sat there and scanned around me, there was nothing but more crates.

"I will give you five seconds to..." he stopped, paused for a second then continued "Hello Mr. Fisher..." _Crap! _I snapped up and pulled out my 5-7. "That stunt at the embassy was impressive. I'm surprised, I thought that you would have taken a hint." I stayed silent and crawled over to the next lot of crates and started searching. "How is Brunton by the way? When you get a chance, send him my regards." I didn't let him slow my pace. I opened the crate. Missile. I took photos of each and continued searching. "There is no point hiding, the area is surrounded and crawling with men given permission to shoot on sight." The next crate: empty. "Fisher!" he yelled. He swung his arm to one of Bennett's men and fired. The gun recoiled from the tremendous power, echoing the cabin. The body snapped back and tumbled onto the floor, the blood trickled slowly onto the floor and seeped down a grating. I wanted to kill them man.

"Sir, give me one good reason why I can't terminate?"

"_Hold on Sam, I haven't got confirmation."_

I searched the other crates only to find the same, until I found a smaller one. "I will give you ten seconds to come out or another will be killed. 10... 9..." I went to work on opening the crate then spoke up "Mr. President. Still using hostages for getting what you want I see?" instantly the group of soldiers turned to my general direction and opened fire. The walls and surrounding sparked up and shards of metal and shrapnel bounced to the floor. The firing stopped as Dan ordered them to. "8... you know, I really didn't want it to come to this, but you forced my hand." I opened the crate and pulled out a metal box then said "Force you to what? Take innocent lives? Hell of a plan for your first week in chair don't 'ya think?" I opened the box to find five test tubes, each filled with a dark red substance, similar to blood. I snapped a shot then sent them to Lambert. _"Sam, we'll need it to be tested." _Redding said over the radio.

"5..." his seconds were slow. I pulled out a pad from my OPSAT then unscrewed the lid to one of the tubes, placed a drop on the pad and pressed 'test' on the screen. The test would take about half a minute. I tried to stall him. "Your plan won't work? And you know it?"

"And you do? What is it, I'm interested." He said sarcastically.

"Well... umm," the screen showed '26%' _damn_ "well to be honest I'm not sure, but it's just wont work. That's an answer..."

"3..." _Crap! _"you truly have been a terrific pain in my arse, why didn't you just die like that pathetic friend of yours?!" I was getting pushed to my limit, and so was my time. '56%'. _"Lambert, I'm not getting out of this one, send in ESPEC."_

"Don't you read comics, the good guys don't die. Normally the bad guys, aka, you, die a slow horrible death." '81%'

"Your sarcasm is not known that well in China, in fact I find it unbearable." He no sooner finished his sentence when a series of muffled gunshots came from the surface, followed by shouting, then, peace.

"They are coming for us, for your sake I'd let..." my sentence was cut short by a gunshot. Another one of Bennett's men fell. Shit. He signalled a few men back to the elevator then pushed the pistol harder into Bennett's head.

"Stop trying to stall me! I am sick of this, I will give you five straight seconds to come out or the Major dies. 5..." '92%' "4... 3... 2... 1..." '100%' I jumped up and raised my hands above my head. "Wait!" He looked at me surprised. Then signaled me over. I walked slowly towards Bennett whilst Lambert came online _"Good Lord, Redding says the substance is known as Red Mercury. ESPEC is on its way, you have the authority, take him..."_ my sight flashed white, before fading to black.

***

My head felt like it had been pounded with bricks, during the worst hangover. My vision was blurry and my mind could not put together the pieces. I felt seriously ill, nauseous, and dizzy. I'd been pounded by one of Dan's soldiers with a rifle butt to the back of my head. My neck was bleeding and felt like someone had slit my throat, behind me ear was also, they'd removed my sub-dermal, I was on my own. Though still dopy, I returned to consciousness, I was in a room, a small room with no light apart from that coming from under the door which sat directly in front of the chair I was tied to. Mouth was gagged with a rag, I tested the bindings, trying to force my way out then slip my way out. Nothing. I sat, tired saw and naked in the cold room, unaware of the world around me. Knowing only that I was in trouble. My bindings were tied so that the more I forced the tighter and the more bruising they became. Muffled voices came from beyond the door, I couldn't understand the words but I knew they were Chinese. One though sounded like weak Chinese, like someone that was foreign to the language. The conversation stopped, then the shadow under the door moved towards me. I tried harder at the bindings but just made it worse. The door rattled from keys followed by a man, Chinese, but too dark and I was too dazed to notice features. He walked over to me and grabbed me by the hair tossing my head back before pounding me in the face. I dazed out for another second then came back. The man was circling me, slapping a belt into his leather gloves. He reached for my gag and pulled it out of my mouth. I spat to the floor clearing my mouth of blood. Then said nothing. He circled me once more before whipping at my chest with the belt. I jolted but swallowed my pain.

He walked around behind me, paused then swung the belt around my neck pulling firmly. I struggled to get free, but he kept it firm; I knew he wouldn't kill me, cause if he was, why here, he could have killed mm before. But that didn't mean it wasn't painful. He continued pulling making me consider the possibility that he probably was going to kill me. I had one chance, it was slim, but a chance. Using his pulling force I pushed the chair back just enough to slip my leg binding out from under the chair legs, landed again then pushed hard with my feet forcing my attacker against the wall. I fell on my back then slipped my arm bindings out from under the chair and in front of my body. I was still sore and still bound. The attacker forced me up and slammed me against the wall kicking me in the stomach. I jolted forward falling onto my stomach, he moved around me then kicked me in the back, the pain was unbearable. I rolled over onto my stomach and levered myself up onto my arms. He brought his foot back preparing for another strike, but catching him in his stride I swung the chair at his legs making him lose balance. I jumped up and hopped quickly towards him using the wall as a stabilizer, then grabbed the chair and pounded him on the head. He got back up, held his head then charged at me. I couldn't side step, so I leant against the wall then leaped into his stomach pushing him flat on his back. The man was the same build as me, but he kept fighting. He punched me again and again, I gave an awkward pound back as my hands were still bound. Rolled to his side then looped the bind around his neck. He struggled and tossed as he tried to break free. But he was unsuccessful. His body slowly weakened, then fell limp on the floor. I rolled onto my back and breathed a sigh of relief as I wasted all my energy. I waited a few moments before searching the man's pockets; by this time my sight had slightly adjusted. In his pocket was a wallet, and a set of keys. I grabbed the keys and slowly cut away at my bindings, five minutes later I broke free, then stripped down the man and put on his clothes. Rubbing my hands I walked to the door and opened it slightly. There was a hallway, empty but lit by a single Chinese hanging lantern. I snuck down the hallway which led to another door. I peered through the door which led outside, outside three men talked. One was a guard, the other the man who was in the hallway; he was dressed in a suit and appeared American, I'd seen him before. And the last who else but Long Dan. I sat at the door and tried to fathom what they were saying. "Has the package been delivered?" said Dan.

"Yes, you'll get it by morning. What about Fisher? We can't risk him messing this up." The American replied.

"He'll be no hassle, I assure you. It's up to you to keep your deal."

"Don't worry, they suspect nothing, and Lambert will be dealt with." I felt confused, and was still sore, but memorized the American's appearance. They then shook hands then were about to enter their cars when the American saw the slit in the door. I closed the door an inch, regretting it immediately as it gives proof that he saw something. He yelled out "There he is, shoot!" they both immediately ran for their cars. I jumped out from the door and ran at the soldier, catching him off guard. Disarming him and forcing him to the ground I held the AK-47 in my shoulder and aimed at the American's black sedan that just sped off. The rifle butted in my shoulder and the shells bounced on the ground. The car kept on driving as only the back window was smashed. Dan on the other hand had just left the gate. I raised the rifle again and finished he clip, having yet again the same result. The soldier on the ground groaned and sat up, I spun round and looked at him. Fear came in his eyes as he held his hands on his head then laid back down. "Good boy." I said before running for a Ford F-100 truck that sat twenty meters away. I hotwired the car then sped off after Dan. It took a while before Dan's lights appeared in the distance. "There you are guv'nor." I said.

Dan had slowed his pace but kept a steady speed. I killed the lights and continued on. Slowly I caught up, I approached his rear and sat at his speed of seventy miles per hour. Then switched on the high beams lighting up his car like a Christmas tree before ramming his rear. He tried to break free but I kept in his boot. The car spun around so I was pushing it sideways up the road. Dan sat there fighting at the steering wheel but I was in control. I flattened the throttle thus moving faster. Dan sat there looking down the road to a bend leading off the valley. "This Mr. Dan, is my little Chaos Theory. This Mr. Dan is for country. This Mr. Dan... Is for Brunton."

Dan's car pummeled into the valley dropping thirty meters before surrendering to a row of trees to rap around. Directly behind was the truck.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter eight

National Security Agency

Forte Meade, Maryland

09:00 hundred hours, 30th July 2008

Lambert entered the room and sat at the end, placed a folder in front of each of the representatives and began "Time is 09:00 hundred hours, briefing has commenced." He said pressing a digital recorder that sat on the table. "Luintenent Colonel Samuel Harry Fisher, born February 3, 1966 Orlando, Florida, USA. Sex: Male. Proceed." William Redding stood up and passed around photos and a file. "It is believed that during the attempted rescue of Agent Samuel Fisher and the several other men, a self destruct was set in place to prevent the findings of any illegal substances under International law. Four men were able to escape before the charge had activated. But none were able to verify that Agent Fisher escaped the explosion. It is believed that Long Dan, former President of China was amongst the victims. Three Identity tags were recovered, though as Agent Fisher does not carry one, we have to assume. As from the 30th of July 2008, record of Samuel Harry Fisher will be removed. End of recording." Redding retrieved the photos then sat back down. Lambert turned off the recorder before NSA director Jessica Real stood. "There is official word that due to the presumed death of Long Dan, the former President of China will take the seat once again. All hostile acts between the two nations have been removed from record, a stable peace agreement is now in place. Thanks to the actions of Agent Fisher, we were able to retrieve and destroy the substances created by the Chinese Government. Thank you."

The briefing continued, covering all angles, then, when it finished everyone left the room apart from Lambert and Grim. Lambert and Grim looked at each other, deciding whether or not anything else was worth it. "Sir," Grim said holding her laptop to her chest.

"What's done is done." Lambert said reaching for the door handle.

"Do you really think his dead?" she said stopping him.

"I don't know," he said walking out the door.

Grim stood there, looking out the window, "I sure hope so."


	9. Epilogue

Epilogue

'Unknown user wants to chat. Y/N'

Jennifer sat starring at her laptop, typing rapidly on the keyboard. The notice beeped once grabbing her attention. She brought the mouse over 'no' and hesitated, usually refusing due to viruses or hackers, but something in her made her choose 'yes'. The screen changed to a chat forum, a message appeared:

'_...Lambert is in Danger.'_

'Who is this?' she started tracing the computer.

'_You are in danger.' _She sat watching the progress of the trace before another message came through.

' _CO-973/421Refine.' _The trace finished and a small link saying 'Finish?' appeared on the screen. She reached for the 'enter' key and paused as she read the message. She was confused, it was a code known only between those in Third Echelon.

'_Do not trace this forum. Do not inform anyone of this message.'_

'_Inform Lambert and stay low. Don't trust anyone.'_

'Why is he in danger, who and how?' she pressed enter.

'_I don't know, just be careful, you are now in danger. You are tracing my computer, do not inform anyone of me...'_

'Who am I in danger from?

'_I need you to trust me Jennifer...'_

'How do you know I'm tracing you, and how do you know my name?'

A few seconds past before a reply came through.

'_Because I'm watching you Grim...'_

She looked out her window to the building directly across from her, a dark figure sat by a computer.

'Sam?'


End file.
